Ryan Wedding of Canada competes during the peak of his snowboarding career. Getty Images
A dramatic international investigation now surrounds Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder who authorities say leads a powerful drug network. US officials accuse him of directing the murder of a federal witness by leaking the witness’s photo to a fake news site. They allege he used the site to track the man down in Colombia.
Officials increased the reward for information on Wedding from $10 million to $15 million. They compared him to Pablo Escobar, citing the scale of his operations. FBI Director Kash Patel said Wedding is “responsible for engineering a narco trafficking and narco terrorism programme that we have not seen in a long time.”
Investigators believe Wedding, 44, now lives in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel. He remains one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives.
Witness Killing Sparks New Charges
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding played a direct role in the murder of a witness linked to a case against him. Bondi said Wedding offered C$10,000 to publish photos of the witness and the witness’s wife on a Canadian website in 2024. The FBI later removed the website from the internet.
The witness was shot and killed in a restaurant in Medellín last January. Officials say the killing was part of a plot to silence testimony that could have led to Wedding’s extradition.
Ryan Wedding shown in a photo taken last year. FBI
Bondi said authorities have charged Wedding with murder, drug trafficking, witness tampering, intimidation, and money laundering. Investigators continue to search for the shooter and another person who helped with the escape.
Major Arrests in Canada and Beyond
US and Canadian officials announced several new steps in the case. A new indictment was filed, and ten people linked to Wedding’s network were arrested this week. The group allegedly operated across several countries and supplied a large share of the cocaine entering Canada. Officials estimate the cartel earns more than $1 billion each year.
RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said seven Canadians connected to the group were arrested in Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta. They now face extradition to the US. Charges include conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking.
Among those arrested was Toronto lawyer Deepak Balwant Paradkar. US officials say he provided illegal services for Wedding’s group and received expensive watches and extra payments in return. According to the indictment, Paradkar advised Wedding to kill the witness to avoid being sent back to the US.
Gursewak Singh Bal, described as a co-founder of the website used in the plot, was also arrested. Authorities continue searching for an eighth suspect.
International Network Under Scrutiny
Another arrest included Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, accused of running a prostitution network in Mexico and helping locate the witness. Police also detained Atna Ohna of Quebec, who is accused of hiring the hitman and later receiving a necklace as payment.
Wedding represented Canada in Giant Slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Officials say he adopted several aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “James Conrad King,” and “Public Enemy.” Investigators believe he built his criminal network after leaving US federal prison in 2011, where he served time for cocaine distribution.
Authorities say Wedding may have ordered dozens of killings across North and South America.
