Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding was added to the FBI’s 10 most wanted list on Thursday for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking network.
Authorities have accused him of shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States.
Wedding is a Canadian native who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
“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,” Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement.
“The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man, and his addition to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, coupled with a major reward offer by the State Department, will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger.”
FBI officials said Wedding orchestrated murders related to the drug crimes.
“He earned the name ‘El Jefe’, becoming boss of a violent transnational drug trafficking organization,” said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division.
“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.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has authorized a $10 million reward for information that leads to Wedding’s arrest and/or conviction. This reward offering supplements the FBI’s current offering of $50,000 for information leading to Wedding’s apprehension, which is being facilitated through a joint effort from the Canadian and Mexican governments as part of a unified effort to end his transnational drug trafficking.
If convicted, Wedding would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison for his criminal enterprise charge.
Wedding’s second-in-command Andrew Clark, a fellow Canadian, was arrested by Mexican authorities last year. Clark was among the 29 fugitives who arrived in the U.S. last week to face charges for his role in the criminal operation.
