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Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is accused of running a massive and violent drug trafficking operation — routinely shipping hundreds of kilos of cocaine and ordering people to be killed in the process … and now he’s wanted by the FBI.
Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said on Thursday Wedding and 15 others have been charged in a 16-count indictment.
43-year-old Wedding — who used aliases like “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy” — and his accomplices are being accused of conspiring to ship huge quantities of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico and through stash houses in the LA area … and then delivering it to couriers to be taken to Canada via semi-trucks.
To see their operation through, Wedding and an associate allegedly ordered violent crimes … including two murders of family members in Ontario, Canada in retaliation for an intercepted drug shipment that was passing through SoCal. They also allegedly ordered another murder over a drug debt.
As part of the investigation, officials seized more than one ton of blow, $255K in U.S. currency, $3.2 million in crypto, firearms and ammunition. The org. is accused of delivering 646 pounds of cocaine in March 2024 alone … and attempted to deliver 827 pounds in April, but it was intercepted by investigators.
In total, officials say the defendants possessed anywhere from $23.4-25.2 million worth of cocaine.
Wedding has been charged with eight felonies — two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise, and drug crime, and one count of attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
“As alleged in the indictment, an Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and 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 unremitting, callous and greed-driven crimes has been operating for far too long, spanning several countries, from Colombia through Mexico, the U.S. and to Canada.”
“They have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders. Wedding, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes.”
Wedding 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 from 2015.
For the drug charges alone, Wedding, if convicted, is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison.
As for the murder and criminal enterprise charges, each carries a life sentence in federal prison.