From Olympic^® Slopes to FBI's Most Wanted: The Fall of Ryan Wedding

Ryan Wedding. Photo courtesy of The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Public domain.

At 43, Ryan Wedding, once celebrated for representing Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics^®, now finds himself on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Authorities allege that Wedding has transitioned from athlete to orchestrator of a vast international drug trafficking network, implicating him in multiple murders. He is accused of managing a large-scale cocaine smuggling operation, moving drugs from Colombia through Mexico and into both Canada and the United States. Investigators say the enterprise used a Canada-based transportation system and was fueled by violence to maintain control.

Rise to Athletic Fame

Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding's passion for snowboarding led him to the global stage. Competing in the men's parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he secured a 24th-place finish, marking a pinnacle in his athletic career.

Ryan Wedding grew up in a supportive, well-off family of ski racers in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and began snowboarding at just 12 years old. Backed by his parents and fueled by natural talent, he quickly rose through the ranks. But it wasn't just skill that set him apart — those who knew him say it was his fearless nature. "He had no fear," said former national ski champion Bobby Allison. "A lot of kids, they say they want to go fast, but they don't really want to go fast. They hold something back, because there's a little bit of fear there of falling. Ryan had none of that," as reported by The New York Post. That same fearlessness, once an asset on the slopes, may have later played a role in his alleged criminal empire.

Descent Into Criminal Allegations

Ryan Wedding's alleged descent into the drug world began shortly after his appearance at the 2002 Winter Olympics. After enrolling at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, he took a job as a nightclub bouncer, where he reportedly became involved with local marijuana dealers. He eventually dropped out of school and, over time, transitioned from small-time dealing to becoming a key player in larger drug networks.

By the mid-2000s, Wedding was allegedly working alongside Iranian and Russian cocaine traffickers. His first major run-in with the law came in 2008 when he was arrested in California and convicted of conspiring to traffic cocaine. His time in prison — surrounded by hardened drug criminals — may have helped him expand and solidify his connections. In later years, Wedding was allegedly linked to high-level international crime figures, including ex-KGB agents, Iranian tech operatives, Hezbollah-linked narco-terrorists, and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.

Los Angeles at the Heart of Wedding's Drug Empire

A federal indictment issued in June 2024 charged Wedding and his alleged second-in-command, Andrew Clark,34, with running a violent drug operation. Federal investigators allege that Wedding and Clark coordinated their drug trafficking operation from Mexico, using the encrypted messaging app Threema^® to communicate securely. Working in coordination with a cartel, the pair reportedly moved approximately 54 tons of Colombian cocaine into stash houses in Los Angeles before distributing it throughout cities across the United States and Canada, according to The New York Post.

The indictment was later updated in September 2024 to include an attempted murder charge. Authorities allege the pair ordered two killings in Ontario in November 2023 as revenge for a stolen shipment, leaving one family member dead and another critically injured. A separate murder was allegedly carried out in May 2024 over a drug-related debt.

Alan Hamilton, Chief of Detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department, emphasized the city's central role in Wedding's alleged drug empire. He stated that Los Angeles served as the primary hub for the operation, with an estimated 60 metric tons of cocaine annually and five metric tons of fentanyl monthly moving through the city en route to destinations across the U.S. and Canada. "His criminal enterprise leveraged Los Angeles transportation corridors to distribute staggering quantities of illicit drugs (that) devastated communities across the country," Hamilton said, as reported by Fox 11.

Clark was arrested in Mexico in October and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year with a group of 29 fugitives.

Legal Actions and Charges

Wedding is currently charged with eight federal felonies. These include two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder related to drug trafficking, and one count of attempted murder. During the investigation, authorities seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, over $255,000 in cash, and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.

"Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada," said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man," as reported by Fox 11.

Reward and Public Appeal

The FBI has labeled Wedding as armed and dangerous and is offering up to $10 million for information that leads to his arrest and conviction. If convicted, both Wedding and Clark face a mandatory life sentence for operating a continuing criminal enterprise. The murder and attempted murder charges could add a minimum of 20 years, while the drug trafficking offenses carry mandatory minimums ranging from 10 to 15 years in federal prison.

Authorities suspect Wedding may be hiding in Mexico but stress he could also be in the U.S., Canada, or Central America. His extensive criminal network and international ties have made him a top priority for law enforcement, ultimately landing him on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

References: A former Olympic snowboarder makes the FBI's Most Wanted list | Ryan Wedding, ex-Olympian-turned drug kingpin, added to FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list | How snowboarder Ryan Wedding went from Olympian to alleged drug kingpin and murderer on FBI Most Wanted list