Court records or official DOJ announcements

Fugitive Ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding Charged with Leading Billion-Dollar Cocaine Ring, Ordering Killings

Oct 17, 2024, 08:16 PM

Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding, who competed in the Salt Lake Games, has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with running a billion-dollar cocaine trafficking ring that operated across North America. Wedding, currently a fugitive, is accused of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking organization that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Southern California to the U.S. and Canada. He allegedly ordered killings as part of the operation, including involvement in four deaths last year, such as a double homicide in Caledon and fatal shootings in Brampton and Niagara Falls, Ontario. Authorities have linked the organization to stash houses in Los Angeles and a raided mansion in Aventura, Florida. A total of sixteen people, including Wedding, have been charged in connection with the drug trafficking operation and related murders, as announced by the DOJ on Thursday. The FBI has labeled Wedding a 'drug lord' and is seeking his arrest.