Olympic snowboarder accused of running drug empire and ordering witness’ murder

Ryan James Wedding represented Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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November 19, 2025 9:47 p.m. ET

Canada's Ryan Wedding snowboards at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Credit:

Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty

Ryan James Wedding, who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, is now even more wanted by the FBI.

In a grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday, Wedding is charged with "overseeing the operations of a criminal enterprise — including by engaging in witness intimidation tactics such as murder — and enriching himself with the enterprise’s laundered drug proceeds," according to a new release from the U.S. Department of Justice.**

The retired athlete, 44, was added to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list in March. Authorities are now offering an increased reward of $15 million for information related to his capture and/or prosecution from the original amount of $10 million.**

Ryan James Wedding is wanted by the FBI.

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Wedding, who authorities believe to be in Mexico, is accused of operating a powerful drug-trafficking operation, where he's taken actions such as allegedly ordering the death of a Colombian man who had been set to testify against him in January.

"Whether you're a kingpin or a dealer on the street, anyone who sells drugs to our kids will be arrested and prosecuted," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel. We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organization lies dismantled."

In all, more than 35 people have been indicted in the case, per the *New York Times*.

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The Justice Department has titled it "Operation Giant Slalom," a reference to the event that Wedding competed in. The *New York Times* reported that he placed 24th in parallel giant slalom snowboarding.

Wedding was previously indicted in October 2024 on charges of allegedly moving large amounts of cocaine from his native Canada to California and three counts of murder.

"Ryan Wedding is a modern day iteration of Pablo Escobar," FBI director Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, said at a news conference. "He is responsible for engineering a narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism program that we have not seen in a long time."**

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