Ryan Wedding is a snowboarder who competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, competing for Canada and finishing 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom. A lot has reportedly happened since then.
The FBI issued a wanted notice Thursday promising $50,000 for information leading to the apprehension, arrest, and extradition of Wedding, whom the Bureau believes may be residing in Mexico. Wedding is considered armed and dangerous.
The snowboarder is wanted for allegedly “running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada, and other locations in the United States.” He is also accused of orchestrating multiple murders related to the cocaine ring.
A federal arrest warrant was signed Sept. 17 in Los Angeles, which charged Wedding with:
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Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances
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Conspiracy to Export Cocaine
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Continuing Criminal Enterprise; Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime
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Attempt to Commit Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime
Per ESPN, Wedding is one of four remaining fugitives in a group of 16 people charged in connection to the ring, which allegedly moved 60 tons of cocaine per year. Arrests have reportedly occurred in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia and Mexico, with cocaine, weapons, ammunition, cash and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency seized.
Authorities reportedly allege the group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, which was said to be a case of mistaken identity.
From ESPN:
“He chose to become a major drug trafficker, and he chose to become a killer,” Estrada told reporters.
Wedding also reportedly faces drug trafficking charges dating back to 2015 that remain unresolved, and was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to prison in 2010, but resumed drug trafficking after release with protection from Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
