(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department unsealed new charges against a former Canadian Olympian snowboarder who is allegedly the “largest distributor of cocaine” in Canada, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The charges allege Ryan Wedding ordered the killing of a witness who was set to testify against him in a U.S. federal trial in a drug trafficking case, prosecutors said.
Wedding, who is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is the “leader of a transnational criminal enterprise,” Bondi said.
“Wedding collaborates closely with the Sinaloa Cartel, a foreign terrorist organization, to flood not only American but also Canadian communities with cocaine coming from Colombia,” Bondi said at a press briefing Wednesday. “His organization is responsible for importing approximately six metric tons of cocaine a year into Los Angeles via semi trucks from Mexico.”
Wedding was previously indicted in Los Angeles federal court on multiple federal charges, including running a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and assorted drug crimes.
He and his alleged second-in-command, Canadian Andrew Clark, conspired to move hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where it was stored in stash houses before being transported to Canada and U.S. cities in long-haul semi-trucks, authorities said.
The two are also accused of ordering the murders of multiple people in Canada to achieve the organization’s aims, the FBI said.
Wedding is now newly charged in connection with the murder of a witness that occurred in January at a restaurant in Colombia, according to U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Los Angeles Bill Essayli.
The witness was shot five times in the head and died instantly, according to Essayli.
“Wedding placed a bounty on the victim’s head in the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him and his international drug trafficking ring and would further ensure that he was not extradited to the United States,” Essayli said during the press briefing.
Wedding and 14 others, including his lawyer, are charged in the new indictment with orchestrating the murder, according to Essayli.
The lawyer is accused of advising Wedding that if he killed the witness, then criminal charges would be dropped, Essayli said. The lawyer was arrested Tuesday in Canada and will be extradited to the U.S., he said.
Authorities said they do not have the suspect who pulled the trigger in the murder and are currently searching for a suspect.
Wedding has been on the run for years and his whereabouts are unknown, authorities said.
The State Department is now offering a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest, officials said Wednesday — up from the previously announced $10 million reward.
The Treasury Department has put sanctions on Wedding and his alleged enterprise, and said he uses a “complex” web of financials to launder money.
Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he placed 24th in the parallel giant slalom, before allegedly running the billion-dollar cocaine operation from Mexico for more than a dozen years, officials said.
FBI Director Kash Patel called Wedding a “modern-day” Pablo Escobar. He asked anyone with information on Wedding to speak up.
“Make no mistake, Ryan Wedding is extremely dangerous,” Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office Akil Davis said during the briefing. “He’s extremely violent, and he’s extremely wealthy. He’s being protected by the Sinaloa cartel, along with others in the country of Mexico. We will find him, and we will bring him to justice.”
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