Federal officials unveiled sweeping new charges against former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding this week, calling him one of the most dangerous traffickers operating across North America, per ABC. The Justice Department said Wedding, 44, rose from a onetime snowboarder in the 2002 Winter Olympics to what Attorney General Pam Bondi described as the “largest distributor of cocaine” in Canada.
Bondi said Wedding built his empire through coordination with the Sinaloa Cartel as he funneled staggering amounts of cocaine through the United States and Canada. “Wedding collaborates closely with the Sinaloa Cartel to flood both American and Canadian communities with cocaine coming from Colombia,” Bondi said. She added that his organization moved roughly six metric tons of cocaine per year into Los Angeles through semi trucks that crossed the Mexico border.
Prosecutors say the scope of the operation went far beyond trafficking. They allege Wedding ordered the killing of a witness set to testify against him in his federal narcotics case. According to U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the target was shot five times in the head at a restaurant in Colombia in January. Essayli said Wedding believed the witness’s death would help him avoid prosecution and block extradition.
New charges widen the case
Olympic snowborder Wedding now faces fresh counts for orchestrating that killing along with 18 others named in the indictment, including his longtime lawyer, Deepak Balwant Paradkar. Prosecutors say Paradkar told Wedding that eliminating the witness would help him sidestep the charges he faced in his 2024 case. Authorities arrested Paradkar on Tuesday in Canada, and they will extradite him to the United States, officials said.
Authorities said they still have not located the gunman responsible for the shooting. Ten people were arrested Tuesday, with 11 total now in custody. Federal officials said they also took immigration action against several associates of Wedding’s network while the search continues for four remaining defendants, including Wedding.
The former Olympic competitor has avoided capture for years. Investigators believe he may be living in Mexico with cartel protection. The State Department increased its reward to 15 million dollars for information leading to his arrest. FBI Director Kash Patel called him a “modern day” Pablo Escobar, while Los Angeles Assistant Director Akil Davis warned that Wedding remains extremely violent, extremely wealthy, and fully shielded by cartel ties.
