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Ryan James Wedding / Photo from the FBI LOS ANGELES – A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for running what federal prosecutors call a transnational drug ring that shipped hundreds of pounds of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and elsewhere, and for allegedly orchestrating multiple murders, officials announced Thursday in Los Angeles. Ryan “El Jefe” Wedding, 43, was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and competed in the giant slalom snowboarding competition during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, according to the FBI . “Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.
S. cities and in his native Canada,” Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address.
I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man, and his addition to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, coupled with a major reward offer by the State Department, will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger.” The US State Department announced it is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest and/or conviction, an amount in addition to the FBI’s $50,000 offer for information leading to Wedding’s apprehension, Davis said at a news conference Thursday at the FBI’s offices in Westwood.
You may like: Apollo Quiboloy on FBI’s ‘most wanted’ list In June 2024, Wedding and his second-in-command, Andrew Clark, 34, also Canadian, were charged in an indictment out of Los Angeles federal court with running a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder in connection with the enterprise and assorted drug crimes, and conspiring to possess, distribute and export cocaine. Clark, who was arrested last October by Mexican authorities, was among the 29 fugitives whom Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced had arrived in the United States from Mexico last week. Six months ago, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a superseding indictment naming 14 additional defendants and including, among other counts, an attempted murder charge against Wedding and Clark.
The superseding indictment alleges that Wedding, Clark and others conspired to ship bulk quantities of cocaine weighing hundreds of pounds from Southern California to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network. The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where the cocaine trafficking organization’s operatives stored the drugs in stash houses before delivering it to the transportation network couriers for delivery to Canada using long-haul semi trucks, according to the FBI. “As alleged in the superseding indictment, defendant Ryan Wedding .
..led a transnational criminal organization that murdered innocent people and put thousands of kilograms of narcotics on our streets,” Acting US Attorney Joseph T.
McNally said. “The reward offered today will help bring this defendant to justice in the United States. We urge anyone with information about Wedding to contact law enforcement and help us get Mr.
Wedding into custody.” The superseding indictment also alleges that Ryan James Wedding and Clark’s organization resorted to violence, including multiple murders, to achieve its aims. Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the Nov.
20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California, court papers show. Another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries. Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt.
In addition, Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a dual Canadian-American citizen, are charged with the April 1, 2024, murder of another victim in Ontario, Canada, federal officials said Thursday. If convicted, Wedding and Clark would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on their respective continuing criminal enterprise charge. The murder and attempted murder charges carry a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison.
The drug trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum penalties of 10 to 15 years in prison, prosecutors noted. Investigators believe that Ryan James Wedding is living in Mexico, but have not ruled out his presence in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, or elsewhere, according to the FBI. In the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Wedding, competing for Canada, finished 24th overall in the men’s parallel giant slalom snowboarding event.
(CNS).
