The FBI announced Thursday that former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been added to its Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. Wedding is facing multiple charges in the U.S., including conspiracy to export cocaine, operating a criminal enterprise, and murder.
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the 43-year-old’s arrest, while the FBI is offering an additional $50,000 for tips on his whereabouts.
Authorities allege that Wedding’s drug trafficking network routinely smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and various U.S. locations. He is also accused of orchestrating multiple murders linked to the operation.
Wedding is reportedly known by several aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “Giant.”
According to the FBI, Wedding was indicted last year in a Los Angeles federal court on multiple charges, including operating a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder in connection with that enterprise, and various drug-related offenses, per ABC News.
Wedding (43) and his alleged second-in-command, 34-year-old Canadian Andrew Clark, are accused of orchestrating the transport of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles, where it was stored in stash houses before being smuggled to Canada and various U.S. cities via long-haul semi-trucks, authorities said.
The FBI also alleges that Wedding and Clark ordered multiple murders in Canada to further their criminal enterprise.
Clark was arrested in Mexico last year and was among 29 fugitives extradited to the U.S. from Mexico last week, while Wedding’s whereabouts remain unknown, according to the FBI, per ABC News.
“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 on Thursday. “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.”
Ryan Wedding was born in 1980. He grew up in Canada, where he developed a passion for snowboarding at a young age. He quickly rose through the competitive ranks, gaining recognition for his skills in the halfpipe discipline.
Wedding represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, competing in the men’s halfpipe event. Although he did not win a medal, his participation on the world stage solidified his status as an elite athlete. Beyond the Olympics, Wedding competed in various international snowboarding competitions, showcasing his talent in the sport.