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A photo of former Olympic Snowboarder Ryan James Wedding released by the FBI. Photo: FBI

A photo of former Olympic Snowboarder Ryan James Wedding released by the FBI. Photo: FBI


The Inertia

Ryan James Wedding, 43, represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. There, he came in 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom. However, since then his career went on a radically different trajectory. Now, the former athlete is facing criminal charges for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking operation.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Olympian and 15 other defendants have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment. Among them is Wedding’s alleged second-in-command Andrew Clark, who was arrested this month in Mexico. “As alleged in the indictment, an Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.

Wedding, who also went under the aliases “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” is accused of conspiring to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. “The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where the cocaine trafficking organization’s operatives would store the cocaine in stash houses, before delivering it to the transportation network couriers for transportation to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks,” read the statement.

Prosecutors went on to claim that Wedding, Clark and other co-conspirators also resorted to violence to protect this operation. “Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the November 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California,” claimed the statement. “Another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries. Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt. Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a resident of Canada, are charged with the April 1, 2024, murder of another victim in Ontario, Canada.”

However, while Clark and other key members of the organization have been apprehended, Wedding still remains at large. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest.

 
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