Ryan Wedding

Last updated

Ryan Wedding
Ryan James Wedding photo released by US Embassy.jpg
A photograph of Wedding released by the United States government in 2025
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Charges
  • Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances
  • Conspiracy to export cocaine
  • Continuing criminal enterprise
  • Murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime
  • Attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime
AliasJames Conrad King, Jesse King, "Giant", "Public Enemy", "El Jefe"
Description
BornRyan James Wedding
(1981-09-14) September 14, 1981 (age 44)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
GenderMale
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight109 kg (240 lb)
OccupationFormer Olympic snowboarder
Status
AddedMarch 6, 2025
CaughtJanuary 22, 2026
Captured

Ryan James Wedding (born September 14, 1981) is a Canadian former Olympic snowboarder and alleged drug lord. [1] [2] He represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in the men's parallel giant slalom event. After retiring from snowboarding, he allegedly became an international drug trafficker. On March 6, 2025, he was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. [3] [4] [5] He was arrested on January 22, 2026, in Mexico City. [6]

Contents

Early life

Ryan James Wedding was born on September 14, 1981, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the eldest of three children. His maternal grandparents owned the Mount Baldy ski resort in Thunder Bay. His uncle was the director of a ski school and coach of the Canadian women's National Alpine Ski Team. [7] His father was an engineer and former competitive skier who, when Ryan was 12, moved his family to the Greater Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, British Columbia, which is where Ryan began his snowboarding career. [8]

Snowboarding

Wedding won the first snowboarding race he entered and, at 15, made the Canadian National Ski Team. He won a bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom event at the 1999 Junior World Championship and a silver medal in the 2001 Junior World Championships. [9] At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he competed for Team Canada in snowboarding men's parallel giant slalom, where he finished 24th. After this, he gave up competitive snowboarding. [10]

A wanted poster for Wedding released by the FBI RYAN JAMES WEDDING-Web-8.5x11.pdf
A wanted poster for Wedding released by the FBI

Marijuana farm

After the 2002 Winter Olympics, Wedding moved back to Vancouver and attended Simon Fraser University. He developed an interest in bodybuilding and started working as a bouncer. After two years in university, he dropped out and began to speculate in real estate, which he financed by growing marijuana at a 6,800-plant warehouse on a suburban property called Eighteen Carrot Farms. In 2006, the RCMP raided the farm and found a shotgun, ammunition, and $10 million worth of cannabis. Wedding was not on the property at the time and there was not enough evidence to charge him. [8]

Cocaine conviction

Wedding expanded his operation when he joined up with Iranian and Russian cocaine smugglers. [9] [11] In 2010, he was convicted of attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent in 2008, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison. [12] [13] [14] He was released in 2011, and around that time he allegedly began his criminal enterprise. [15]

Alleged drug lord

On October 17, 2024, Wedding was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with "leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians". He is charged with multiple felonies, including drug trafficking, leading a criminal organization, three counts of murder, and one attempt to commit murder. [16] [17] He was one of sixteen people to be charged as part of Operation Giant Slalom in a joint investigation by several federal agencies. [18] The murders that Wedding is accused of having carried out were of married couple Jagtar Sidhu, 57, and Harbhajan Sidhu, 55, and of Mohammed Zafar, 39. The Sidhus were killed in November 2023, while Zafar was killed in May 2024. [19] Wedding is believed to have ordered the murders alongside Andrew Clark, who has been charged with the April 2024 murder of Randy Fader, 29. [20]

According to authorities, after his release, Wedding fled to Mexico and became a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico's largest drug cartel, where he was known by the nicknames "El Jefe", "Giant" or "Public Enemy". [21] [22] The alleged second-in-command of Wedding's trafficking ring was arrested in Mexico in October 2024. [23] [24]

Wedding is accused of having ordered the murder of a federal witness in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2025. [25] On March 6, 2025, Wedding was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. [5] [26] replacing Alexis Flores. [5] The FBI initially offered a reward of up to US$10 million for his capture, [26] which increased to US$15 million in November 2025 after Wedding was indicted on charges of witness intimidation, murder, and money laundering. [27] In November 2025, the FBI announced the arrest of six more defendants in the case, including an attorney for Wedding. [15]

Arrest and trial

Wedding was arrested in Mexico on the night of January 22, 2026. [6] [28] [29] He was reported to have turned himself over to authorities, however his attorney Anthony Colombo disputed this claim, saying that Wedding was apprehended non-voluntarily. [30] [31] He first appeared in United States federal court on Monday, January 26, 2026, and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. [32] Wedding is scheduled to appear in court again on February 11, 2026, and his trial is scheduled to begin on March 24. However, Wedding's attorney Anthony Colombo has stated that the trial will likely involve a large amount of evidence, so it may not proceed as scheduled. [30]

Personal life

While incarcerated in 2011, Wedding married an Iranian-born woman. They have since divorced. [33] Wedding reportedly has a girlfriend from Colombia who is accused of accepting money from him with knowledge that it came from drug trafficking. [34]

In media

In March 2025, it was announced that a television documentary series titled Snow King: From Olympian to Narco was in production, based on a Rolling Stone investigation. It is being developed by Rolling Stone Films in collaboration with the production companies Dogwoof, Visitor Media, the CBC, and Corriente del Golfo. [35] [36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-Olympic snowboarder, FBI fugitive Ryan Wedding arrested". ESPN. 23 January 2026. Archived from the original on 24 January 2026. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  2. ↑ "U.S. v. Wedding, Indictment (PDF)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 16 December 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  3. ↑ "Most Wanted: RYAN JAMES WEDDING". Federal Bureau of Investigation . Archived from the original on 6 November 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  4. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ryan Wedding Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "Former Olympian Wanted for Running Transnational Drug Enterprise and Ordering Several Murders Added to FBI's List of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives". Federal Bureau of Investigation. 6 March 2025. Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  6. 1 2 Tucker, Eric; Durkin Richer, Alanna; Balsamo, Mike (23 January 2026). "AP report: Ryan Wedding, elite snowboarder turned most-wanted drug trafficking fugitive, arrested in Mexico". PBS News . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 23 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  7. ↑ McPhee, Michele (18 January 2025). "From Olympic Dreams to FBI's Most Wanted: The Fall of Ryan Wedding". LAmag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  8. 1 2 Lewsen, Simon (28 July 2025). "Becoming El Jefe". torontolife.com. Toronto Life. Archived from the original on 8 September 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  9. 1 2 "From Olympic Snowboarder To FBI's Most Wanted, The Fall Of Ryan Wedding". NDTV. 11 March 2025. Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  10. ↑ Effress, Sarah (17 October 2024). "Who is Ryan James Wedding? What to know about Canadian snowboarder charged with running cocaine ring". The Sporting News . Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  11. ↑ "Ryan Wedding". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  12. ↑ "Ryan Wedding". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  13. ↑ Luymes, Glenda (18 October 2024). "Who is Ryan Wedding? Former Olympic snowboarder accused of running transnational drug ring". Vancouver Sun . Archived from the original on 28 October 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
  14. ↑ Bolan, Kim (2 May 2009). "Snowboarder charged with trafficking". Vancouver Sun . Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022– via PressReader.
  15. 1 2 Levenson, Eric (6 December 2025). "How an Olympic snowboarder became one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives". CNN. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Former Canadian Olympian charged in connection with cocaine bust, alleged murders". CBC News . 17 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 October 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  17. ↑ "16 Defendants Charged in Superseding Indictment Alleging Bulk Shipments of Cocaine to Canada, Four Murders". US Department of Justice. 17 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 October 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  18. ↑ Goldberg, Noah (17 October 2024). "Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder charged with running drug trafficking organization, ordering killings". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  19. ↑ Tsekouras, Phil (6 March 2025). "US$10M reward posted for ex-Olympian turned alleged drug kingpin". CTV News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  20. ↑ Dawson, Tyler (6 March 2025). "$10M bounty: Canadian Olympian on FBI's most wanted list over alleged drug crimes". National Post . Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  21. ↑ Nielsen, Kevin (18 October 2024). "What we know about Ryan Wedding, Canadian Olympian and accused drug lord". Global News . Archived from the original on 15 November 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  22. ↑ Caramela, Sammi (18 October 2024). "Olympic Snowboarder Is Running Massive, Murderous Drug Trafficking Operation from Mexico, FBI Says". Vice Media . Archived from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  23. ↑ Leon, Calvi (15 March 2025). "Canadian man accused of helping lead ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding's drug ring extradited to U.S. from Mexico". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  24. ↑ Leon, Calvi (27 March 2025). "'Second-in-command' to Canadian Olympian turned alleged drug lord pleads not guilty to charges including four Ontario murders". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 27 March 2025. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  25. ↑ Leenson, Eric (6 December 2025). "How an Olympic snowboarder became one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives". CNN . Archived from the original on 7 December 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  26. 1 2 Daigle, Thomas (6 March 2025). "FBI offers $10M reward for Canadian ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding, now among 10 most wanted". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  27. ↑ Alund, Natalie Neysa. "Former Olympic snowboarder indicted, facing murder, drug charges". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  28. ↑ Levenson, Eric; Campbell, Josh (23 January 2026). "Former Olympic snowboarder and FBI fugitive Ryan Wedding arrested". CNN. Archived from the original on 23 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  29. ↑ "Ryan Wedding, ex-Olympic snowboarder accused of being a drug kingpin, is arrested". NBC News. 23 January 2026. Archived from the original on 23 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  30. 1 2 Alfonso, Denny (27 January 2026). "Former Olympian Ryan Wedding pleads not guilty to drug trafficking, murder charges". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  31. ↑ Taxin, Amy (26 January 2026). "Ex-Olympic snowboarder pleads not guilty to running a drug smuggling ring". AP News. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  32. ↑ "Ex-Olympic snowboarder pleads not guilty to running a drug smuggling ring". CNN. 26 January 2026. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  33. ↑ Daigle, Thomas (27 February 2025). "Fugitive Ryan Wedding's ex-wife named in money laundering, kidnapping probes". CBC News . Archived from the original on 30 March 2025. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  34. ↑ McPhee, Michele (20 November 2025). "U.S. Sanctions Expose the Women Aiding Fugitive Ryan Wedding". LAmag. Archived from the original on 22 November 2025. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  35. ↑ Blistein, Jon (17 March 2025). "Rolling Stone Investigation Into Snowboarder Turned Drug Lord to Become Docuseries". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  36. ↑ Carey, Matthew (17 March 2025). "Docuseries On Ryan Wedding, Olympic Snowboarder-Turned-FBI Most Wanted Fugitive, Coming From Dogwoof, Visitor Media". Deadline. Archived from the original on 17 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
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