Thu Oct 17 19:30:00 UTC 2024: ## Former Olympic Snowboarder Accused of Running International Drug Trafficking Ring
**LOS ANGELES** – A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, Ryan James Wedding, has been charged with leading a massive drug trafficking operation that spanned across the Americas and resulted in multiple deaths, federal authorities announced Thursday.
Wedding, 43, is accused of running a criminal enterprise that transported vast quantities of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other parts of the U.S. Authorities believe his group, which allegedly moved 60 tons of cocaine annually, employed long-haul semi-trucks for the illicit operation.
“He chose to become a major drug trafficker, and he chose to become a killer,” stated U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in Los Angeles.
Wedding, currently a fugitive residing in Mexico, is facing charges including murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and running a criminal enterprise. The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and extradition.
The investigation, which resulted in the arrests of 12 individuals in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico, alleges that Wedding’s group killed two family members in Canada in a case of mistaken identity, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment.
Authorities also claim that Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, was protected by the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico after his 2010 release from a U.S. prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada dating back to 2015, which remain unresolved.
The investigation has yielded the seizure of cocaine, weapons, ammunition, cash, and over $3 million in cryptocurrency.
The FBI and other agencies are actively pursuing the remaining four fugitives associated with the drug trafficking ring.
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