Former Olympian Ryan Wedding On FBI's 10 Most Wanted List Over Drug Charges

A former Canadian Olympian is now on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List for allegedly running a global drug trafficking network. Snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 43, made it to the list of notorious fugitives for running a drug trafficking organisation and for orchestrating multiple killings to fund his illicit enterprise.

Wedding's cartel transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to the US, Canada, and Mexico, according to the FBI.

The FBI has not ruled out the possibility of Mr Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King,” being in the US, Canada, or other Latin American countries, but he appears to reside in Mexico.

In June 2024, the former Olympian and his Canadian partner, Andrew Clark, were charged with homicide and running a criminal enterprise in California.

According to the FBI, Wedding and Clark allegedly ordered the murder of another victim concerning a drug debt on May 18, 2024.

The FBI also said that Wedding might be protected by the Sinaloa cartel. The police have been looking into Wedding on suspicion of operating a sizable marijuana grow business in Maple Ridge, British Columbia since 2004.

In May 2010, Wedding was found guilty of trying to purchase cocaine from a government official in 2008 and received a four-year prison sentence.

Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI, said that Wedding moved from “shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics” to selling “powder cocaine” on the streets of America and Canada.

“Now, his face will be on ‘The Top 10 Most Wanted' posters,” Matthew Allen, special agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, added.

The FBI stated that it was currently in a desperate attempt to arrest Wedding before the “very dangerous man… puts anyone else in danger.”

According to the FBI, the US State Department has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to Wedding's arrest or conviction.

The FBI is now providing an extra $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspected drug kingpin.

Representing Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Wedding was 24th in the parallel giant slalom competition.