LOS ANGELES — A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder has been charged with orchestrating a drug trafficking operation that allegedly transported substantial quantities of cocaine throughout the Americas, leading to multiple fatalities, according to law enforcement officials on Thursday.
The FBI has announced a $50,000 reward for information that could assist in the capture and extradition of Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian national residing in Mexico and deemed a fugitive. The 43-year-old faces charges in the United States related to operating a criminal organization, murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, among other offenses, as stated by U.S. prosecutors.
Authorities indicated that Wedding’s network trafficked large cocaine shipments from Colombia, navigating through Mexico and California en route to Canada and various locations within the United States, utilizing long-haul trucks for transport. Wedding, a former Olympic athlete who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, shares the spotlight with 15 other individuals charged in this case. According to Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, the organization reportedly moved an estimated 60 tons of cocaine annually, with four members still at large.
“He opted to engage in major drug trafficking and embraced a life of crime,” Estrada remarked during a press briefing.
FBI Special Agent Krysti Hawkins, stationed in Los Angeles, revealed that a dozen arrests have been made across several regions, including Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico in connection with this investigation.
U.S. officials allege that the group was involved in the killing of two individuals from a family in Canada as retaliation for a stolen drug consignment, a situation that has been described as a case of mistaken identity, in addition to at least one more homicide. Investigators have reportedly confiscated cocaine, firearms, ammunition, cash, and over $3 million in cryptocurrency throughout their ongoing investigations.
In addition to the charges in the United States, Wedding is also facing unresolved drug trafficking allegations in Canada dating back to 2015, as outlined by Chris Leather, chief superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Those charges remain outstanding,” Leather noted.
Wedding previously faced a conviction in the U.S. for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010. Estrada mentioned that U.S. authorities suspect that following his release, Wedding returned to drug trafficking and has allegedly received protection from the Sinaloa Cartel while in Mexico.
