Former Olympic Snowboarder Accused of Running Cocaine Trafficking Ring and Murder
Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been accused of running a cocaine trafficking ring that distributed the drug throughout North America.
Wedding is one of 16 people charged in connection with an operation that moved 60 tons of cocaine each year from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and the United States, according to Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, as reported by ESPN .
Wedding is one of four people who are still at large. It is believed that he is currently living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel. The FBI is offering $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and extradition.
In addition to being charged with running a criminal enterprise and conspiring to distribute cocaine, Wedding faces a murder charge in connection with the Nov. 2023 killing of a couple in Canada over a stolen drug shipment.
"This was a case of mistaken identity," Estrada said. "They were killed in cold blood in front of their daughter, who was also shot 13 times."
The murder was allegedly ordered by Wedding and Ryan Clark, who was arrested on Oct. 8. Prosecutors consider Clark to be Wedding’s right-hand man.
"He chose to become a major drug trafficker, and he chose to become a killer," Estrada said of Wedding.
According to CBS News , Estrada claims contract killers were used to kill anyone who “they saw as an obstacle to their operation.” Wedding and Clark allegedly ordered for a man to be fatally shot in his car while in the driveway of his home.
The federal arrest warrant is the latest in what has become a downward spiral in Wedding’s personal life after finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City where he represented Canada.
In 2010, Wedding was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in the United States and sentenced to four years in prison. Following his release, he allegedly went back to his old ways.
Wedding was also charged in 2015 with drug trafficking in Canada, which Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said remains "very much unresolved."
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