A former Olympic snowboarder has been added to the FBI’s ten most wished fugitives record accused of working a drug cartel that trafficked lots of of kilos of Colombian cocaine from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada.
Ryan Wedding ceremony, 43, from Thunder Bay, Canada, was added to the bureau’s most wished record Thursday, changing alleged youngster rapist and assassin, Alexis Flores.
The fugitive, who’s believed to be on the run in Mexico and below the safety of the Sinaloa cartel, is needed for masterminding a transnational narcotics trafficking community that routinely shipped tons of cocaine from Colombia by Mexico and throughout the U.S.-Mexico border, based on the FBI.
Wedding ceremony, who had aliases “El Jefe,” “Big” and “Public Enemy,” has additionally been accused of orchestrating a number of murders, together with an harmless Canadian couple who had been killed in a case of mistaken id in 2023.
His addition to the FBI’s most wished record marks a stark fall from grace since he represented Canada on the 2002 Winter Olympic Video games in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, putting twenty fourth within the males’s parallel large slalom occasion.
Ryan Wedding ceremony might face life in jail if convicted of homicide, tried homicide and drug trafficking fees (FBI)
“Wedding ceremony went from shredding powder on the slopes on the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” stated Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Discipline Workplace in a press release Thursday.
Matthew Allen, particular agent in command of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Discipline Division, added: “The previous Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of loss of life and destruction, right here and overseas.
“Now, his face might be on ‘The Prime 10 Most Needed’ posters. He’s unremitting, callous and greed-driven. At present’s announcement beams a fair brighter searchlight on him. We ask that you just assist us discover him.”
The FBI stated it’s now determined to carry Wedding ceremony to justice, earlier than the “very harmful man… places anybody else in peril.”
A $10 million reward for data on his whereabouts is being supplied by the U.S. Division of State’s Bureau of Worldwide Narcotics and Legislation Enforcement Affairs.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio licensed the reward below the Narcotics Rewards Program.
The FBI can also be providing a separate $50,000 for data resulting in the alleged drug kingpin being dropped at justice.
“We’re dedicated to defending American communities from thugs who, with clear consciences, intentionally peddle illicit narcotics and prey on our youth,” stated Cartwright Weiland, senior bureau official for the State Division’s NIL.
Ryan Wedding ceremony was first investigated by police as a suspect in a marijuana rising operation in 2004 however was by no means charged (FBI)
Not lengthy after Wedding ceremony’s Olympics look, the suspect enrolled on the Simon Fraser College in Vancouver, the place he took a part-time job as a bouncer, a good friend advised Rolling Stone earlier this yr.
Wedding ceremony’s good friend believes that it’s by that position that the previous athlete made his first forays into the underworld.
“Wedding ceremony’s descent into this world was no totally different from how one positive factors entrée into any official business. He made pals who turned connections. He networked,” wrote Jesse Hyde, a Salt Lake Metropolis-based reporter for Rolling Stone.
Police had been investigating Wedding ceremony on the suspicion that he was working a big marijuana develop operation in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, since 2004.
In 2006, he was named in a search warrant in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, based on his athlete profile on Olympics.com. He was by no means charged.
Wedding ceremony was convicted in Might 2010 for making an attempt to purchase cocaine from a authorities agent in 2008, and was sentenced to 4 years in jail.
An FBI wished poster of Wedding ceremony shared by the Los Angeles DEA in October (FBI/X)
Wedding ceremony was indicted in October 2024 because the lead suspect alongside 15 different suspects on fees of working a transnational drug trafficking, the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated in a joint assertion.
He might face a compulsory minimal penalty of life in federal jail if convicted, the FBI stated.
Officers stated that Wedding ceremony runs the drug trafficking ring with fellow Canadian Citizen Andrew Clarke, which makes use of vans and stash homes to move cocaine throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Their group has additionally been accused of being answerable for a number of shootings within the Peel Area, a municipality within the Larger Toronto Space.
“An Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with main a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and homicide, together with of harmless civilians,” Martin Estrada, the U.S. lawyer for the Central District of California, stated in October.
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