A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder is wanted in a US drug trafficking case

By The Associated Press

Chris Leather, chief superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, at podium, joined by U.S.. federal, local, and international officials, announces federal charges and arrests of alleged members of a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, during a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Damian Dovarganes]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Olympic snowboarder for Canada has been charged with running a drug trafficking ring that shipped vast amounts of cocaine across the Americas and killed four people, authorities said Thursday.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian citizen who was living in Mexico and is considered a fugitive. The 43-year-old is charged in the United States with running a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiring to distribute cocaine and other crimes, U.S. prosecutors said.

U.S. authorities said Wedding’s group moved large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other locations in the United States using long-haul semi-trucks. Wedding, who also faces years-old charges in Canada, is one of 16 people charged in connection with a ring that moved 60 tons of cocaine a year, and four of them remain fugitives, said Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles.

“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and he chose to become a killer,” Estrada told reporters.

Krysti Hawkins, FBI special agent in charge in Los Angeles, said a dozen people were arrested in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia and Mexico in connection with the case.

Canadian former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 43, who is a fugitive, is seen top left, with 15 other defendants who have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment for allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, are displayed on a video monitor as federal, local, and international officials announce federal charges and arrests of alleged members at a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Damian Dovarganes

U.S. authorities allege the group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what officials there said was a case of mistaken identity as well as two other people, according to officials and federal court filings. Authorities said they seized cocaine, weapons, ammunition, cash and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency in connection with their investigation.

Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, authorities said.

Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, said Chris Leather, chief superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Those charges are very much unresolved,” Leather said.

Wedding previously was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. Estrada said U.S. authorities believe that after Wedding’s release, he resumed drug trafficking and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.