Former Olympic Snowboarder Charged with Drug Trafficking

19th October 2024

The FBI is hunting for Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian citizen who was living in Mexico and is on the run.

He is accused of shipping vast amounts of cocaine across the Americas and being involved in the killing of several people.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and extradition.

The 43-year old is charged in the United States with running a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiring to distribute cocaine and other crimes.

The FBI said he masterminded large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and the USA.

The FBI said  he “should be considered armed and dangerous”.

Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

He finished 24th in the parallel giant slalom.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Los Angeles, said Mr Wedding and his alleged accomplices “have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders”.

He added that Wedding “went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes”.

Ryan James Wedding. Image c/o FBI

He is one of 16 people charged in connection with a ring that moved 60 tons of cocaine a year, and four of them remain fugitives.

Investigators say Mr Wedding allegedly ordered the murders of three people, including an innocent Ontario couple who were killed in a case of mistaken identity in 2023.

He is believed to be on the run in Mexico.