An ex-Olympic snowboarder who remains on the run is facing federal charges for ordering killings as part of a cocaine trafficking ring that ran warehouses in Los Angeles and trafficked drugs across North America, an operation that prosecutors call ruthless and described as fatal.
Ryan James Wedding, 43, competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City before being convicted in 2010 of attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent. He is currently on the run and living in Mexico, federal prosecutors say, as he faces eight charges, including murder in connection with an ongoing criminal enterprise and drug crimes. A superseding indictment unsealed Thursday includes charges against him and 15 other defendants.
FBI
The FBI has announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of Wedding, who authorities say is considered armed and dangerous.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for him on September 17.
“For the past 13 years, Wedding has run this criminal enterprise,” Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, told reporters at a news conference Thursday, describing the alleged drug ring as a “ruthless” operation that netted billions of dollars .
Several suspects already arrested in the case will appear in court next week in Miami, Los Angeles and Michigan.
Ryan Clark, 34, is a fellow Canadian citizen described by prosecutors as Wedding’s right-hand man. He was arrested on October 8, according to federal prosecutors.
In November 2023, Wedding and Clark allegedly ordered the murder of a couple visiting Canada from India. They thought the two people were responsible for a lost shipment of cocaine, Estrada said, but that was not actually the case.
“This was a case of mistaken identity,” Estrada said. “They were murdered in cold blood in front of their daughter, who was also shot thirteen times.”
On average, the drug trade would have shipped about 60 tons of cocaine through North America, Estrada said. For example, in March 2024 it allegedly delivered 293 kilograms of cocaine, or about 646 pounds, for shipment and distribution to Canada, while another shipment the following month contained 375.1 kilograms, or 827 pounds, of cocaine, federal authorities said.
Prosecutors said several defendants possessed about 1.8 tons of cocaine with a street value of about $23 to $25 million.
Multiple murders were committed as part of the drug network and cryptocurrency was used to launder millions of dollars — federal investigators seized $3 million from one cryptocurrency wallet alone, Estrada said.
“They would use hitmen to kill anyone they saw as an obstacle to their operation,” Estrada said.
KCAL News
Federal prosecutors say large amounts of cocaine originated in Columbia, where it was cooked or manufactured in so-called cocaine kitchens before being transported to Mexico. From there, the cocaine was allegedly smuggled into the US in long-haul trucks and taken to Southern California.
“Once in the United States, they used the Los Angeles area as a hub for their transportation network,” Estrada said, saying Canadian handlers would go to homes in LA to coordinate the shipment of cocaine to the East Coast and Canada.
After reaching the highest levels in his sport, Wedding allegedly ran an extensive – and deadly – drug ring for more than a decade, according to Estrada. “He chose to become a major human trafficker and he chose to become a murderer,” Estrada said.
This year, in May, Wedding and Clark are accused of ordering the killing of a man who was fatally shot while sitting in his car in the driveway of his home.
Estrada said the people killed in connection with the drug operation were “execution style.”
According to federal prosecutors, Wedding is known to have aliases including “Giant,” “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy.”
As part of the case, investigators seized more than 1 ton of cocaine, $255,400 in U.S. cash, more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency, three firearms and dozens of rounds of ammunition.
