Former Olympian Ryan Wedding Accused of Orchestrating Murder and Leading Billion-Dollar Drug Ring
The U.S. Justice Department has formally accused ex-Olympian snowboarder Ryan Wedding of homicide and financial illicit activities, connected to a purported drug smuggling operation that moved narcotics from Mexico to the United States and Canada.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, November 19, Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged that Wedding, 44, orchestrated the assassination of a government informant at a Medellin, Colombia, eatery, to prevent his testimony against him. A bounty of $2 million is available for individuals providing details that help identify those responsible for the supposed killing.
Representing Team Canada, Wedding participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, securing 24th place in the men’s parallel giant slalom event. He retired from the sport not long after his Olympic participation.
The former Olympic athlete faced charges in October 2024 for heading a criminal organization, murder, conspiring to distribute cocaine, and various other offenses. Bondi, 60, stated during her press conference on Wednesday, November 19, that his supposed drug network transported 60 tons of cocaine annually, generating a yearly profit of a billion dollars. She further labeled him “among the globe's most prolific and brutal drug trafficking masterminds.”
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“He is accountable for a level of narco-terrorism we haven't witnessed in quite some time,” stated FBI director Kash Patel. “One cannot operate as a drug trafficker and escape legal consequences.”
The FBI is now providing a $15 million reward for the apprehension of Wedding, a Canadian national formerly residing in Mexico and currently declared a fugitive. Prior to this, the Bureau had offered $50,000 for details assisting in his arrest and transfer to U.S. jurisdiction.
“Illegal substances are devastating our children… our companions, our family members — and this individual bears responsibility for a significant portion of that devastation. We will not remain passive,” Bondi declared. “The Department of Justice will deploy every resource at its disposal to apprehend these perpetrators.”
According to Bondi, authorities seized almost $3.2 million in digital currency and over $13 million in tangible property during the course of the inquiry.
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The attorney general identified Wedding as Canada's primary cocaine supplier and further implicated him in the trafficking of other illicit substances, such as fentanyl. She suspects he is receiving “close protection” from Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.
“Wedding transitioned from carving snow on Olympic slopes to distributing powdered cocaine on American streets and throughout his homeland of Canada,” remarked Akil Davis, Assistant Director of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, in March, following Wedding's inclusion on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
Individuals associated with Wedding's network are alleged to have killed two members of a Canadian family in 2023, purportedly as retribution for a pilfered drug consignment. These killings, which Wedding and Andrew Clark (apprehended by the FBI in October 2024) were linked to, subsequently seemed to stem from mistaken identity.
“The Treasury Department is collaborating with the FBI and the Department of Justice to sever Wedding and his criminal associates' access to the U.S. financial system and to assist in dismantling their operational network,” stated John K Hurley, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in a Wednesday announcement. “Our objective is straightforward: to impede criminals of this nature from profiting by harming our communities.”
