A former Olympic snowboarder is accused of running a major transnational drug trafficking organization that shipped massive amounts of cocaine and allegedly hired hitmen to murder multiple people, federal officials said.
Ryan Wedding, 43, a former Olympian from Canada who now resides in Mexico, is among 16 people charged in a federal indictment, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
The “prolific and ruthless” organized crime group shipped “literally tons of cocaine into the United States and Canada,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said during a press briefing.
“They were killers,” said Estrada. “Anyone who got in their way they would target with violence. Including murder.”
In this Feb. 14, 2002, file photo, Ryan Wedding of Canada competes in the qualifying round of the men’s parallel giant slalom snowboarding event during the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah.
Adam Pretty/Getty Images, FILE
Wedding allegedly ran the billion-dollar operation for the past 13 years from Mexico, Estrada said. The organization allegedly moved about 60 tons of cocaine per year, Estrada said.
At one point, the group used the Los Angeles area as a hub for their operation, Estrada said. They allegedly used long-haul trucks to move shipments of cocaine from drug kitchens in Colombia to stash houses in Los Angeles and then would ship the cocaine to mostly Canada but also to the East Coast of the U.S., he said.
Wedding and others allegedly made billions of dollars, which they moved around in the form of cryptocurrency, according to Estrada. They’re accused of laundering a quarter of a billion dollars from April to September, he said.
A photo of narcotics prosecutors said were seized by law enforcement, which was included in a federal indictment.
U.S. Department of Justice
Law enforcement has seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in U.S. currency and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency as part of its investigation into the so-called Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization, the DOJ said.
The indictment also alleges that the operation used contract killers to assassinate anyone they saw as getting in their way. The victims were all shot execution-style in Canada, so their loved ones could see them murdered, prosecutors said.
The victims included two parents who were murdered in front of their daughter in a case of mistaken identity in 2023, Estrada said. The daughter was also shot multiple times but survived, he said.
Another victim was killed over a drug debt in May, and a fourth was murdered in April, prosecutors said.
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, 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, Oct. 17, 2024.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Charges in the 16-count superseding indictment include drug counts, criminal enterprise charges and murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
Many of the defendants were arrested in recent weeks in California, Michigan, Florida, Canada, Colombia and Mexico, prosecutors said. Several are expected to make their court appearances in the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan and Miami.
Wedding is considered a fugitive and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest, federal officials said.
Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” was previously charged in the original indictment and is the superseding indictment’s lead defendant, prosecutors said.
He competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he placed 24th in the giant parallel slalom.
If convicted of murder and attempted murder charges, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison, the DOJ said. The continuing criminal enterprise charges also carry a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison.
