Former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding has become one of the worlds most wanted fugitives, allegedly abandoning his snowboarding career for a criminal empire so vast that investigators have compared him to Pablo Escobar. Wedding, 43, is accused of leading a billion-dollar cocaine-smuggling organisation protected by the Sinaloa Cartel and corrupt officials in Mexico. He has evaded capture since October 2024 and was placed on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list in March. This week, the bureau increased the reward for information leading to his arrest from $10 million to $15 million. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced newly unsealed charges on Wednesday, including witness tampering, intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking. He is accused of locating a key FBI witness in Colombia who was then murdered before he could testify. We are coming for you. We will find you. And you will be held accountable for your crimes, Bondi said at a press conference in Washington, calling his operation one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organisations in the world. Authorities say Wedding, also known as El Jefe, Giant and Public Enemy, oversaw the movement of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia into Canada each year. Bondi added: His organisation is responsible for importing approximately 60 metric tonnes of cocaine a year into Los Angeles via semi trucks from Mexico, estimating the loads weight as 40 cars.
During the briefing, officials also confirmed the arrest of Ontario lawyer Deepak Paradkar, accused of advising Wedding to kill the informant, 42-year-old Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who was shot dead in a Medelln restaurant in January. Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said Paradkar was one of a dozen suspects detained in a sweeping international takedown. Canadian police have also arrested a Montreal man, Atna Onha, who is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the killing of Acebedo-Garcia. FBI Director Kash Patel said: Make no mistake about it: Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar and El Chapo Guzmn. Akil Davis, assistant director of the bureaus Los Angeles Field Office, added: Hes being protected by the Sinaloa Cartel along with others in the country of Mexico. Wedding, who grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, represented 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 began in the mid-2000s. In 2006 he was named in a search warrant related to a marijuana-growing operation, though he was never charged. In 2010 he was convicted of drug trafficking after attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent and was sentenced to four years in prison. He is now charged with eight felonies, including three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, accusations that have propelled him to the top tier of international fugitives.
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