Ryan Wedding, ex-Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug lord, added to FBI's 10 Most Wanted list with $10 million reward for arrest
Former Canadian snowboarder Ryan Wedding was named to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list on Friday with a $10 million reward announced for his arrest.
The 43-year-old Wedding is wanted for allegedly running a drug trafficking network that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine "from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, and for orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder in furtherance of these drug crimes," said the FBI in a press release.
Wedding's alleged partner in these crimes, 34-year-old Canadian national Andrew Clark, was arrested in Mexico last year by Mexican authorities. Wedding's whereabouts remain unknown, according to the FBI.
'While we haven't ruled out other countries, we believe Wedding is residing in Mexico and possibly living under the protection of the Sinaloa drug cartel,' said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office on Thursday.
Wedding is reportedly known by several aliases, including 'El Jefe,' 'Public Enemy' and 'Giant.'
The $10 million reward offered by the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is in addition to a $50,000 reward offered by the FBI for information leading to Wedding's apprehension, arrest and extradition.
Authorities say the group allegedly killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, which was said to be a case of mistaken identity.
Wedding placed 24th in the parallel giant slalom as a part of Team Canada during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He then allegedly began running the operation from Mexico for over a decade.
If convicted on the murder and attempted murder charges, Wedding faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in federal prison, as do the continuing criminal enterprise charges.
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