Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is accused of running a massive and violent drug trafficking operation – routinely transporting hundreds of kilos of cocaine and ordering people killed in the process… and now he’s wanted by the FBI.
Martin EstradaThe U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California said Thursday that Wedding and 15 others were charged in a 16-count indictment.
43-year-old Wedding – who used aliases such as “El Jefe”, “Gigante” and “Public Enemy” – and his accomplices are being accused of conspiring to ship huge quantities of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico and through safe houses in Los Angeles area… and then hand it over to couriers to be taken to Canada in semi-trucks.
To carry out the operation, Wedding and an associate allegedly ordered violent crimes… including two murders of family members in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for an intercepted drug shipment passing through SoCal. They also allegedly ordered another murder over a drug debt.
As part of the investigation, authorities seized more than a ton of explosives, US$255,000 in US currency, US$3.2 million in cryptocurrencies, firearms and ammunition. The organization. is accused of delivering 646 pounds of cocaine in March 2024 alone… and attempted to deliver 827 pounds in April, but was intercepted by investigators.
In total, authorities say the defendants possessed between $23.4 and 25.2 million worth of cocaine.
Wedding was charged with eight felonies – two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leadership of a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime . , and one count of attempted murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug-related crimes.
“As alleged in the indictment, an Olympic athlete turned drug lord is now accused of leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and the murder, including of innocent civilians,” Estrada said.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen also addressed the alleged drug empire… saying: “The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization and its incessant, callous and greed-motivated crimes have been operating for far too long, spanning multiple countries from Colombia to Mexico, the USA and Canada.
“They unleashed an avalanche of violent crime, including brutal murders. Wedding, the Olympic snowboarder, went from navigating the slopes to skirting a life of incessant crime.”
Wedding has had run-ins with the law before. In 2010, he was convicted of buying cocaine from a government agent. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Wedding was living in Mexico… and is now considered a fugitive. He also faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada since 2015.
On the drug charges alone, Wedding, if convicted, could face a minimum of 10 years in prison.
As for the murder and criminal enterprise charges, each carries a sentence of life in federal prison.