Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder from Canada, has recently been added to the FBI’s most wanted list due to allegations of leading an international drug trafficking network and reportedly orchestrating attacks on key witnesses.
Attorney General Pam Bondi disclosed on Wednesday that Wedding allegedly ordered the murders of witnesses meant to testify against him. Wedding, who participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics, had posted images taken by witnesses on a now-removed site.
Federal officials reported that one of the witnesses was killed at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, on January 31. The Department of Justice has charged Wedding with additional offenses, including witness tampering, intimidation, money laundering, and drug trafficking.
The FBI declared earlier this year that Wedding had made it to their notorious “Most Wanted” list, with a reward for his capture set at $10 million. Back in 2010, he faced conviction for attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent.
Wedding is known by several aliases such as “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King.” Authorities suspect he may currently be residing in Mexico but are not dismissing the chance he could be in the United States, Canada, or other Latin American nations.
He stands accused of running a cross-border drug trafficking operation that purportedly moved large quantities of cocaine, often transporting days’ worth, from Colombia through Mexico and into different U.S. locales, including Southern California.
In one significant incident, law enforcement seized around 1.8 tons of cocaine worth an estimated $23 million to $25 million, a seizure linked to his network.
Wedding is also thought to have orchestrated multiple murders in Ontario, Canada, and reportedly smuggles an astonishing 60 tons of cocaine into the U.S. annually via semi-trucks from Mexico to Southern California.
“Ryan Wedding and his crew are believed to import vast amounts of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico each year, flooding U.S. neighborhoods. His violent actions will not be overlooked; this is a message that the FBI is committed to finding and prosecuting Ryan Wedding and his associates,” stated FBI Director Kash Patel in a press briefing on Wednesday.
The reward for his capture has now increased to $15 million.
Following recent arrests that were part of Operation Giant Spin, ten individuals have been taken into custody, including seven Canadians, one Colombian national, and a 36-year-old man from Orlando, Florida, who holds legal residency in Colombia.
Authorities suspect that Wedding has connections to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
“The murder of a witness in Colombia this year was a brutal act that will not be tolerated,” said Bill Esseri, assistant U.S. attorney for California’s Central District. He stressed the commitment to pursuing those involved in this criminal organization, warning that if convicted, Wedding may never be released from prison.
