U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel presented their case on Wednesday against Ryan Wedding, a former Team Canada Olympian who they allege transformed into a prominent international drug kingpin. The announcement was made during a press briefing in Washington, D.C., with the presence of RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme.
Wedding, a purported Canadian drug lord who represented Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, is currently listed among the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted fugitives. Bondi disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice is levying charges against Wedding for “two additional counts of witness tampering and intimidation, money laundering, and drug trafficking.”
Describing Wedding as the mastermind behind a major drug trafficking operation, Bondi emphasized the severity of his criminal activities. Allegations suggest Wedding orchestrated the murder of a federal witness using a now-defunct website named “The Dirty News,” where images of the witness and his spouse were posted to facilitate his location.
The victim, reportedly identified by Radio-Canada sources as Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, was fatally shot in a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, before having the chance to testify against Wedding. The U.S. State Department has increased the reward for Wedding’s capture to $15 million US, up from the initial $10 million.
Characterizing Wedding as a contemporary version of notorious drug lords like Pablo Escobar and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Bondi revealed that Wedding was responsible for smuggling 60 metric tonnes of cocaine annually into Los Angeles from Mexico. The investigation has led to the indictment of more than 35 individuals, with seizures including over 2,000 kilograms of cocaine, various weapons, about $3.2 million in cryptocurrency, and $13 million in assets.
Echoing Bondi’s sentiments, FBI director Kash Patel likened Wedding to a modern-day criminal mastermind, emphasizing his role in orchestrating a sophisticated narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism program. Patel urged the public to provide any information they might have on Wedding’s whereabouts to aid in his apprehension.
Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles division, cautioned that Wedding, who stands at six feet, four inches tall and weighs between 230 to 250 pounds, might alter his appearance to avoid capture. Moreover, he emphasized the need for public assistance in identifying and locating Wedding for his apprehension.
During the press conference, RCMP Commissioner Duheme acknowledged the cooperative efforts of law enforcement agencies across borders in addressing the case but emphasized that more work remains to be done. Duheme disclosed that seven Canadians with ties to Wedding’s alleged criminal network were apprehended by the RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police on Tuesday morning.
Among the arrested individuals was Atna Onha, alias Tupac or 2-Pac, a 40-year-old from Laval, Quebec, facing charges related to murder, cocaine trafficking, and potential extradition to the U.S. Another detainee, Edwin Basora-Hernandez, a Dominican national residing in Montreal, was implicated in supplying contact information for locating the murder victim. Additionally, Canadian lawyer Deepak Paradkar was arrested for allegedly advising Wedding on the murder plot to evade extradition from Mexico on charges linked to his criminal organization.
