Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder charged with running drug trafficking organization, ordering killings
It was a career pivot to say the least.
Ryan James Wedding, 43, was once an aspiring snowboarder who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He came in 24th for Canada in the men's parallel giant slalom.
But federal prosecutors alleged Thursday that Ryan Wedding had chosen a different path following his snowboarding career. He had become a major trafficker of cocaine into Canada and the United States, a ruthless leader of a criminal drug enterprise who would stop at nothing to keep his business — "The Wedding Criminal Enterprise" — running smoothly.
"He chose to become a major drug trafficker and a killer," U.S. Atty. for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said during a news conference.
He remains on the loose.
"Ryan Wedding is still at large," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Krysti Hawkins.
Prosecutors announced a sprawling superseding indictment Thursday charging Wedding with conspiracy to export cocaine, with running a continuing criminal enterprise, and with three murders in connection with the operation as well as an attempted murder. The superseding document amends and replaces the original indictment.
"An Olympic athlete-turned-druglord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians," Estrada said.
Prosecutors alleged that Wedding — who was known by many aliases, including "El Jefe" and "Public Enemy" — ran the drug trafficking organization from 2011 to 2024 along with his second-in-command Andrew Clark. Clark was arrested this month in Mexico.
They moved 60 tons of cocaine per year, Estrada said, calling the enterprise "extremely prolific." It was a billion-dollar organization, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said as part of their investigation they seized more than a ton of cocaine, dozens of rounds of ammunition and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency.
They moved the cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and into Southern California. From there they distributed it to Canada and other parts of the United States, working with a Canadian drug transportation network helmed by Hardeep Ratte and Gurpreet Singh. The cocaine was stored in Los Angeles stash houses before it was taken to Canada in trucks, prosecutors alleged.
Together Wedding and Clark ruled their enterprise with an iron fist, Estrada said.
"They were killers. Anyone who got in their way they would target with violence, including murder," he said.
The duo would hire contract killers and take out hits on people who they believed got in the way of their business.
In November 2023, Estrada said, they ordered the killings of an Indian couple visiting Canada who they believed had stolen a cocaine shipment. It was a case of mistaken identity. The couple was shot to death in front of their daughter — who was also shot but survived.
In April 2024, Clark and another co-defendant, Malik Damion, ordered the killing of another man in Ontario who was shot to death in his driveway. One month later, Wedding and Clark allegedly had another man killed over a drug debt as he sat in his car in the driveway of his home.
The killings were all execution-style, Estrada said.
It is not the first time Wedding ran afoul of the law. In 2008 he was arrested on cocaine trafficking charges. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine in federal court in San Diego in 2009 after a jury trial.
As part of a joint investigation, 12 people were arrested in the U.S., Canada, Colombia and Mexico in connection with the drug trafficking enterprise.
Authorities are offering $50,000 to anyone who has information leading to the arrest of Wedding.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.