The US government has announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder from Canada, who is wanted for allegedly running a large-scale international drug trafficking network and orchestrating multiple murders linked to the ring.
Wedding, 43, was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. The US State Department is offering the substantial reward as part of the effort to bring him to justice.
“Wedding went from shredding powder on Olympic slopes to distributing powder cocaine across US cities and in his home country of Canada,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “His alleged involvement in the murders of his competitors makes him an extremely dangerous individual.” The FBI revealed that Wedding has used several aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad King.”
Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, was charged in June with murder and drug trafficking. The charges were expanded in September when a federal indictment revealed that Wedding and his associates orchestrated the shipment of around 60 tons of cocaine annually, using long-haul semitrucks to transport the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California, and Canada.
In connection with the case, US authorities arrested a dozen individuals, including several members of Wedding’s alleged network. Federal court documents indicate that the group was responsible for the killings of two Canadian family members in what was described as a retaliatory attack for a stolen drug shipment. Officials also allege that Wedding was involved in two additional murders tied to the drug ring.
Wedding, who finished 24th in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics, has since become one of the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives for his role in this violent and extensive drug operation. Authorities continue to search for him, urging anyone with information to come forward.
