Ryan Wedding: From former Olympic athlete to one of the FBI's ten most wanted, accused of ordering a witness to be killed and linked to the Sinaloa Cartel

Ryan Wedding, the snowboarder who represented Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, has gone from the snow slopes to allegedly leading one of the most violent and profitable criminal organizations.

At 44 years old, authorities in the United States and Canada consider him to be a drug lord of the same stature as Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Pablo Escobar.

This Wednesday, at a press conference at the Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed that Wedding personally ordered the murder of a federal witness who was to testify against him. To facilitate his execution, the former athlete posted photographs of the informant on a now-deleted website called "The Dirty News," according to a report from The New York Times. On January 31, 2025, that witness was shot five times in the head while eating at a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia.

”He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world," Bondi said. Under Wedding's leadership, his operation has trafficked 60 metric tons of cocaine a year and is Canada's largest cocaine distributor, according to the attorney general.

In addition, the attorney general, warned, "Whether you’re a kingpin or a dealer on the street, anyone who sells drugs to our kids will be arrested and prosecuted."

Cocaine was smuggled into the United States, hidden in semi-trailer trucks crossing from Mexico into Southern California, and generated more than $1 billion annually in illicit profits for the network.

Wedding, who is believed to be residing in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, now faces two new federal charges of witness tampering and intimidation, in addition to previous drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

The operation that left eleven people in custody

Under "Operation Giant Slalom," eleven people are already in custody, among them seven Canadians (including Wedding's lawyer, Deepak Paradkar, accused of recommending him to eliminate the witness), a Colombian, and a permanent resident of Colombia arrested in Orlando, Florida.

For his part, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, stated, “Wedding’s 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. Today’s announcement is a culmination of the steadfast work of the FBI and our partners around the world to identify and dismantle violent gang and drug organizations.”

Additionally, the first Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, added: “The murder of a witness in Colombia earlier this year was a cruel, cold-blooded act that could not and did not go unanswered."

Similarly, the FBI's deputy director in Los Angeles, Akil Davis, described the fugitive as a 6-foot-4, 240-pound man who “should stand out in Mexico,” although he warned that he may have changed his appearance and “should not be approached because he is dangerous.”

In addition to the new indictments, the Treasury Department sanctioned Wedding and his immediate entourage, blocking any assets in the U.S. financial system.