Ex-Olympic snowboarder on the run as he faces drug trafficking and murder charges, officials say

Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, was charged Thursday with running a cocaine trafficking ring across America and killing several people, officials said.

Wedding is a Canadian citizen and considered a refugee, the FBI said.

The agency offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of the 43-year-old former athlete. Prosecutors said he faces charges in the United States of running a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other crimes.

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An image of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 43, who is on the run and charged with participating in a cross-border drug smuggling operation, is shown on a video monitor during a news conference at the FBI office in Los Angeles Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 . (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Canada's Ryan Wedding at the 2002 Olympics. (Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)

“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and he chose to become a murderer,” Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, told reporters.

Wedding's group is accused of using long-haul semi-trucks to transport large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other locations in the United States. He is one of 16 defendants in the alleged ring, accused of transporting 60 tons of cocaine each year.

Estrada said four of them remain on the run.

“The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization and its tireless, callous and greed-driven crimes have been in operation for far too long, spanning multiple countries, from Colombia to Mexico to the United States to Canada,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen said via TMZ Sports.

“They unleashed an avalanche of violent crime, including brutal murders. Wedding, the Olympic snowboarder, has gone from navigating the slopes to a life of incessant crime.”

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada smiles at the podium as he joins federal, local and international officials in announcing federal indictments and arrests of alleged members of a transnational drug trafficking operation that allegedly shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and South California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, during a press conference at the FBI office in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Two members of a family in Canada were killed in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what U.S. authorities said was a case of mistaken identity, U.S. authorities claimed. According to authorities, more than $3 million worth of cocaine, weapons, ammunition, cash and cryptocurrencies were seized during the investigation.

Wedding, who competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, faces additional charges in Canada related to alleged drug trafficking dating back to 2015, said Chris Leather, chief superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Wedding was previously convicted in the United States of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, according to federal records.

Estrada said U.S. authorities believe he resumed drug trafficking after Wedding's release. He added that officials believed he was being protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Commissioner Chris Leather announces federal indictments and arrests of suspected members of a transnational drug trafficking operation accused of shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and other locations in the United States, during a press conference at the FBI office in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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He is said to have pseudonyms such as “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy,” prosecutors told the Los Angeles Times.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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