Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 43, has been accused of being involved in a drug trafficking operation that involved a massive amount of cocaine and violent crime with the FBI now on the case.
The US District Attorney for the Central District of California has stated that Wedding is among 16 who have been charged related to the ongoing investigation into the criminal organization, referred to as "The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization." According to reports, the operation moved massive amounts of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico and then to the Los Angeles area. At that point, shipments are said to have made their way to Canada.
It has also been said that Wedding may have been involved in ordering three murders – two of which were related to a stolen drug shipment and another that was related to a drug debt.
Wedding is said to have used aliases of El Jefe, Giant, and Public Enemy while involved in these crimes, ultimately charged with eight felonies.
During the ongoing investigation, authorities have seized more than a ton of cocaine, firearms and ammunition, $255,400 in United States currency, and $3.2 million in cryptocurrency. The criminal organization is said to have delivered roughly 646 pounds of cocaine for eventual shipment to Canada in March 2024 alone. Another shipment of 827 pounds of cocaine was intercepted by authorities the following month. It's estimated that individuals in the organization possessed a total of 1.8 metric tons of cocaine which would have a street value somewhere between $23.4 and $25.2 million in Los Angeles.
“The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization and its unremitting, callous and greed-driven crimes has been operating for far too long, spanning several countries, from Colombia through Mexico, the U.S. and to Canada,” said Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Los Angeles Field Division. “They have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders. Wedding, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes. DEA and our partners stand firmly in our resolve to dismantle his operation. I want to thank our DEA investigators and all our partners, including the FBI, LAPD, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police International for their collaboration, experience and tremendous value that help embolden our mission.”
Wedding is described as a Canadian citizen residing in Mexico. At last report, he remained a fugitive with authorities working to track him down. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to his arrest. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on murder and attempted murder charges alone.
Wedding was previously convicted of drug trafficking in 2010 and sentenced to four years in prison.
As far as his snowboarding career in the Olympics goes, he competed in the men's parallel giant slalom event in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Winter Olympics, ultimately placing 24th.
All suspects are to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Read more about this case here .
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