Who is Ryan Wedding? Olympic snowboarder accused of orchestrating killing of federal witness; FBI announces $15M bounty on Canadian drug lord

Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada, has become the focus of a shocking criminal case after being accused of orchestrating the murder of a federal witness in Colombia, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday. Once known for his athletic talent on the slopes, Wedding allegedly turned to large-scale drug trafficking in Canada and US after retiring from sports.

US authorities allege that Wedding, 44, ordered the murder to silence a witness whose testimony could tie him to a global narcotics operation. According to officials, Wedding - now on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list - was indicted in late 2024 on charges including murder and drug trafficking. Prosecutor Bondi claims Wedding then placed a bounty on the witness set to testify against him.



During a press conference in Washington, DC, Bondi, joined by FBI Director Kash Patel and other senior officials, announced a new set of charges against the former Olympian, describing the allegations as extraordinarily disturbing. The witness was shot dead earlier in the year on January 31, 2025.

WHO IS RYAN WEDDING?

Wedding, who is believed to be hiding in Mexico, represented Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. He was charged in a September 2024 superseding indictment with attempted murder and several other offenses. According to Attorney General Bondi, Wedding’s criminal network is responsible for moving roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine into Los Angeles each year through semitruck shipments from Mexico.

HOW RYAN WEDDING ORCHESTRATED FEDERAL WITNESS KILLING

Bondi detailed how Wedding allegedly targeted the witness, outlining the drastic steps he took to track him down.

"Wedding used a Canadian website called The Dirty News to post photographs of the witness and his wife in order to locate him, which ultimately succeeded. The witness was gunned down in a restaurant in Medellin before he could testify against Wedding," 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."

FBI OFFERS $15M BOUNTY ON RYAN WEDDING

US investigators say Wedding’s drug network moved cocaine into major US and Canadian cities. The probe has so far led to more than 35 indictments, the seizure of over 2,000 kilos of cocaine, weapons, $3 million in cryptocurrency, and $13 million in other assets.

Already facing multiple charges, the fugitive ex-snowboarder - allegedly protected by a cartel - now faces additional counts of murder, witness intimidation, money laundering, and trafficking.

According to the New York Post, the US State Department has increased its reward for information leading to Wedding’s capture, raising the bounty from $10 million to $15 million on Wednesday.