Ryan Wedding, who represented Canada in snowboarding at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, is now a fugitive from the U.S. justice system, accused of leading a violent international drug trafficking ring. Wedding allegedly orchestrated the shipment of tons of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, the U.S. and Canada — and he’s accused of ordering multiple killings.
The FBI says Wedding, 43, is a fugitive and may be in Mexico. A federal arrest warrant was issued for him one month ago in the U.S. Central District Court in Los Angeles. He’s been working with the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office tells NPR.
A grand jury indictment was first filed in June, charging Wedding with numerous felonies. He is the lead defendant in a superseding indictment that was unsealed this week, naming 16 people in all.
“They have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders,” Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles division, said in a statement. “Wedding, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes.”
Ryan Wedding appears on an FBI wanted poster. The U.S. says Wedding, 43, is a fugitive and may be in Mexico.
Authorities allege that the drug conspiracy operated on a large scale, listing locations from Colombia and Mexico to three California counties — Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino — and Miami-Dade County, Fla.
Agents were able to monitor the group’s…
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