Former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding has reportedly abandoned his snowboarding career to lead a criminal empire so vast that authorities have compared him to Pablo Escobar.
The 43-year-old is accused of running a billion-dollar cocaine-smuggling operation backed by the Sinaloa Cartel and corrupt officials in Mexico. Wedding has been on the run since October 2024 and was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in March. This week, the reward for information leading to his capture was increased from $10 million to $15 million.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced newly unsealed charges on Wednesday, which include witness tampering, intimidation, murder, money laundering, and drug trafficking. Wedding allegedly located a key FBI witness in Colombia, who was then murdered before he could testify. Bondi called his operation “one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in the world” and vowed: “We are coming for you. We will find you. And you will be held accountable for your crimes.”
Wedding, also known by the aliases “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” reportedly oversaw the movement of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia into Canada each year. Officials estimate that his organization imports approximately 60 metric tonnes of cocaine annually into Los Angeles via semi-trucks—roughly the weight of 40 cars.
The international crackdown has already led to arrests, including Ontario lawyer Deepak Paradkar, accused of advising Wedding to kill the informant Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who was shot dead in Medellín in January. Canadian authorities also arrested Atna Onha, from Montreal, charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the same case.
FBI Director Kash Patel called Wedding a “modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar and El Chapo Guzmán,” while Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, added that Wedding is protected by the Sinaloa Cartel and others in Mexico.
Wedding, originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, competed for Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom. He continued competing until around 2010 and was described as an “Olympic hopeful” by Canadian media.
His legal troubles reportedly began in the mid-2000s. In 2006, he was named in a marijuana-growing investigation but was never charged. In 2010, he was convicted of drug trafficking after attempting to purchase cocaine from a U.S. government agent, serving four years in prison.
He now faces eight felony charges, including three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, making him one of the top international fugitives today.
