A former Olympic snowboarder is on the FBI Most Wanted List for allegedly spearheading a multicultural trafficking organization.
Ryan James Wedding is a 44-year-old former snowboarder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, who competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He took part in the men’s Parallel Giant Slalom for Canada, finishing 24th.
However, that would seemingly be the last time Wedding dealt with literal snow before becoming an accused cocaine trafficker.
‘Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world.’
According to Sporting News, Wedding’s first drug charges came six years after his Olympics appearance, when he was arrested in San Diego for cocaine trafficking and later convicted for conspiracy to possess and distribute.
Now, the FBI has placed Wedding on its top 10 most-wanted list and, working with the Department of Justice and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has charged him with overseeing the operations of a criminal enterprise, engaging in witness intimidation, and profiting off of laundered drug money.
Wedding is believed to be in Mexico, where he is currently being sheltered by cartel associates.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel.”
She added, “We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organization lies dismantled.”
Details of Wedding’s witness intimidation came from the DOJ, which said he ordered a hit on a witness in a federal narcotics case.
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Wedding allegedly placed a bounty on the head of a witness for a 2024 indictment and enlisted others to locate and kill him. The witness was shot to death in a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia.
Not only is Wedding said to have ordered the assassinations of others as well, but perhaps shockingly, it was allegedly Wedding’s lawyer who advised him to put out the hit on the 2024 witness.
Deepak Balwant Paradkar, a 62-year-old barrister residing in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, allegedly advised Wedding to murder the victim in order to avoid extradition to the United States from Mexico. Paradkar also improperly provided Wedding with court documents and access to members of his enterprise who had been arrested.
Wedding is charged with a multitude of crimes stemming from the 2024 indictment, including continuing criminal enterprise, assorted drug trafficking charges, and directing the murder of two members of a family from Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in November 2023.
Those killings were reportedly in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in California. A third family member was also shot but survived the injuries.
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Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“Ryan Wedding and his associates allegedly imported tons of cocaine each year from Colombia through Mexico and onto the streets of U.S. communities,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “His criminal activities and violent actions will not be tolerated, and this is a clear signal that the FBI will use our resources and expertise to find Ryan Wedding and bring him and his associates to justice.”
The diverse cast of characters involved in the case included Edwin Basora-Hernandez, a reggaeton musician from the Dominican Republic, who provided the contact information for the aforementioned witness, which helped assassins locate him.
Gursewak Singh Bal, co-founder of the Dirty News website, allegedly took money in exchange for not posting about Wedding, and instead posting a photograph of the aforementioned witness.
A $15 million reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest or prosecution was issued by the U.S. government, with another $2 million in reward money offered for similar information on each of the assassins.
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Fearless, Crime, Canada, Olympics, Snow boarding, Drugs, Trafficking, Cartel, Mexico, Colombia, Sports, Snowboarding