Ryan Wedding: Ex-Olympian on FBI's Most Wanted list with $10m reward for drug trafficking and murder

Once a celebrated athlete representing Canada, Wedding is accused of leading a massive drug trafficking network and orchestrating multiple murders tied to the illicit operation.

The FBI officially added the 43-year-old to its 10 Most Wanted list on Thursday, alongside the US State Department’s multi-million-dollar reward offer.

“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man.”

Among his known aliases, according to the FBI, are “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad King.”

Wedding was initially charged in June with murder and drug-related crimes, with additional charges filed in September. Prosecutors allege that Wedding and his associates facilitated the shipment of approximately 60 tonnes of cocaine annually, using long-haul semi-trucks to transport the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California, and Canada.

In an October announcement detailing the indictment, the FBI confirmed that at least a dozen individuals had been arrested in connection with the case.

US authorities claim the criminal network was responsible for multiple homicides, including the killing of two family members in Canada over a stolen drug shipment, later determined to be a case of mistaken identity, as well as two additional victims.

Wedding, once a promising athlete, competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom event.