A former Olympic snowboarder has been added to the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives list accused of running a drug cartel that trafficked hundreds of kilos of Colombian cocaine from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada.
Ryan Wedding, 43, from Thunder Bay, Canada, was added to the bureau’s most wanted list Thursday, replacing alleged child rapist and murderer, Alexis Flores.
The fugitive, who is believed to be on the run in Mexico and under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel, is wanted for masterminding a transnational narcotics trafficking network that routinely shipped tons of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the FBI.
Wedding, who had aliases “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy,” has also been accused of orchestrating multiple murders, including an innocent Canadian couple who were killed in a case of mistaken identity in 2023.
His addition to the FBI’s most wanted list marks a stark fall from grace since he represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, placing 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom event.
Ryan Wedding could face life in prison if convicted of murder, attempted murder and drug trafficking charges (FBI)
“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office in a statement Thursday.
Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division, added: “The former Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of death and destruction, here and abroad.
“Now, his face will be on ‘The Top 10 Most Wanted’ posters. He’s unremitting, callous and greed-driven. Today’s announcement beams an even brighter searchlight on him. We ask that you help us find him.”
The FBI said it is now desperate to bring Wedding to justice, before the “very dangerous man… puts anyone else in danger.”
A $10 million reward for information on his whereabouts is being offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorized the reward under the Narcotics Rewards Program.
The FBI is also offering a separate $50,000 for information leading to the alleged drug kingpin being brought to justice.
“We are committed to protecting American communities from thugs who, with clear consciences, deliberately peddle illicit narcotics and prey on our youth,” said Cartwright Weiland, senior bureau official for the State Department’s NIL.
Ryan Wedding was first investigated by police as a suspect in a marijuana growing operation in 2004 but was never charged (FBI)
Not long after Wedding’s Olympics appearance, the suspect enrolled at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, where he took a part-time job as a bouncer, a friend told Rolling Stone earlier this year.
Wedding’s friend believes that it’s through that role that the former athlete made his first forays into the underworld.
“Wedding’s descent into this world was no different from how one gains entrée into any legitimate industry. He made friends who became connections. He networked,” wrote Jesse Hyde, a Salt Lake City-based reporter for Rolling Stone.
Police had been investigating Wedding on the suspicion that he was running a large marijuana grow operation in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, since 2004.
In 2006, he was named in a search warrant in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, according to his athlete profile on Olympics.com. He was never charged.
Wedding was convicted in May 2010 for attempting to buy cocaine from a government agent in 2008, and was sentenced to four years in prison.
An FBI wanted poster of Wedding shared by the Los Angeles DEA in October (FBI/X)
Wedding was indicted in October 2024 as the lead suspect alongside 15 other suspects on charges of running a transnational drug trafficking, the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a joint statement.
He could face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison if convicted, the FBI said.
Officials said that Wedding runs the drug trafficking ring with fellow Canadian Citizen Andrew Clarke, which uses trucks and stash houses to transport cocaine across the U.S. and Canada.
Their group has also been accused of being responsible for several shootings in the Peel Region, a municipality in the Greater Toronto Area.
“An Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians,” Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in October.
