By Steve Neavling
A former Olympic snowboarder accused of running a violent international drug trafficking operation has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, federal authorities announced Thursday.
Ryan Wedding, 43, is wanted for allegedly overseeing a cocaine distribution network that moved hundreds of kilograms of the drug from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and other parts of the U.S., prosecutors said. He is also accused of orchestrating multiple murders in connection with his drug business.
“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets,” Akil Davis, the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office director, said. “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man.”
Authorities believe Wedding, a Canadian national, is hiding in Mexico but say he could also be in the U.S., Canada, or elsewhere in Latin America. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, while the U.S. State Department has authorized an additional $10 million under its Narcotics Rewards Program.
Wedding competed in the Giant Slalom snowboarding event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City before turning to drug trafficking, according to prosecutors. He and his second-in-command, Andrew Clark, 34, were indicted last year in Los Angeles on charges including operating a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and drug distribution. Clark was arrested in Mexico last October and extradited to the U.S. last week.
A superseding indictment filed in September accuses Wedding’s organization of smuggling bulk shipments of cocaine — each weighing hundreds of kilograms — from Mexico to Los Angeles, where the drugs were stored in stash houses before being moved to Canada via long-haul trucks. The indictment also alleges that Wedding and Clark ordered multiple killings, including a 2023 double murder in Ontario, Canada, and a separate killing in May 2024 over a drug debt.
“The former Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of death and destruction, here and abroad,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen said. “Now, his face will be on ‘The Top 10 Most Wanted’ posters.”
If convicted, Wedding faces a mandatory life sentence in federal prison.
The FBI is asking anyone with information on Wedding’s whereabouts to contact authorities via WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram at +1-424-495-0614 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
