WASHINGTON — U.S. law enforcement officials said Wednesday they are offering a $15 million reward for information that leads to the arrest of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the athlete, who is on the FBI top 10 most wanted list, controls one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in the world.
“Whether you are a street-level drug dealer or an international drug kingpin, we are coming for you,” Bondi said at a news conference where she was joined by State and Treasury Department officials, FBI Director Kash Patel and the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“We will find you, and you will be accountable and held to justice for your crimes,” Bondi added. “It’s killing our kids. It’s killing our friends. It’s killing our relatives. And this guy is responsible for a tremendous amount of that horror.”
Bondi said Wedding is responsible for illegally trafficking $1 billion worth of drugs each year and is currently the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada. He collaborates closely with the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and transports about 60 metric tons of cocaine annually into Los Angeles using semitrucks that travel across the southern border, she said.
Indicted in 2024, Wedding is wanted for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to export cocaine, and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, according to the FBI.
A Canadian citizen, he competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he participated in the men’s parallel giant slalom. Considered armed and dangerous, the FBI believes he is 44 years old and may be residing in Mexico.
On Wednesday, Bondi announced new charges against Wedding, including witness tampering, intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking related to the killing of a federal witness in Medellin, Colombia, in January. The new indictment includes the arrest of a dozen additional individuals Bondi said were involved with the killing, including a Latin pop star and Wedding’s Canadian lawyer, who allegedly ordered the slaying, according to the U.S. attorney involved with the case.
“Wedding placed a bounty on the victim’s head in the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him and his international drug-trafficking ring and would further ensure that he was not extradited to the United States,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at the news conference. “He was wrong.”
He said Wedding used a fake news website called the Dirty News to post a photograph of the victim and his wife online “so he could be hunted down and killed.”
That website was seized Tuesday and no longer exists, Essayli said.
“The FBI has always engaged the public around the world for their assistance in bringing some of the world’s most dangerous criminals and terrorists to justice, and we are doing so again today,” Patel said at Wednesday’s indictment announcement, where he compared Wedding to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the so-called “king of cocaine” who was reportedly worth $30 billion when he was killed in 1993.
The U.S. State Department recently increased its reward for Wedding’s capture from $10 million to $15 million, Bondi announced. She said the department is also offering $2 million awards for information leading to the arrest of individuals who were involved in the killing of the federal witness earlier this year.
As part of an elaborate international and interagency effort called Operation Giant Slalom, the Treasury Department announced Wednesday that its Office of Foreign Asset Control is imposing financial sanctions on Wedding and his network.
“U.S. international businesses are now on notice,” said John Hurley, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “Should you choose to assist Wedding by supporting him and his network, we will find you, cut you off from the U.S. financial system and help our DOJ partners bring you to justice.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Michael Duheme said his agency has been working with the FBI to target organized crime in both countries.
“No single agency or nation can combat transnational organized crime alone,” Duheme said, adding that his agency is working with its offices in Los Angeles, Mexico and Bogota, Colombia.
He said the RCMP arrested several Canadians on Tuesday with ties to Wedding, saying the former Olympic athlete “remains one of the top threats to Canadian public safety.”
