Who Is Ryan James Wedding? Canadian Ex-Olympic Snowboarder Charged With Running Drug Trafficking Enterprise

Ryan James Wedding, 43, once a Canadian Olympic snowboarder, is now facing allegations as a drug trafficking leader, accused of overseeing a billion-dollar cocaine enterprise. Wedding, a competitor in the 2002 Winter Olympics, turned to crime and established a cocaine enterprise that spanned Canada, the US, Mexico, and Colombia, according to prosecutors’ announcement on Thursday.

Calling Wedding a “major trafficker and a killer,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada claimed that from 2011 to 2024, Wedding was the leader of “The Wedding Criminal Enterprise.” According to Estrada, Wedding and his second-in-command, Andrew Clark, brought cocaine into Southern California from Colombia via Mexico, where it was subsequently dispersed throughout the United States and Canada. To finish this operation, they supposedly collaborated with Canadian colleagues Gurpreet Singh and Hardeep Ratte.

The indictment claims that Wedding’s organization made significant revenues by moving 60 tons of cocaine annually. More than a ton of cocaine, ammunition, and $3 million in cryptocurrencies allegedly connected to the group were found, according to federal authorities. Wedding is still at large, despite Clark’s recent arrest in Mexico; a $50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Wedding’s location. Wedding’s status as a fugitive was confirmed by FBI Special Agent Krysti Hawkins.

Estrada characterized Wedding’s tactics as brutal, linking the operation to a number of suspected killings. The business allegedly killed an Indian couple in November 2023 because it thought they had taken cocaine. Erroneously targeted, the victims were shot beside their survivor daughter. Authorities also charge Wedding and Clark with two other homicides that occurred in Canada: in April 2024, a victim was shot in his driveway, and in May, a drug debt led to another killing.

The legislation is not new to weddings. He was detained in 2008 on suspicion of selling cocaine, and a federal court in San Diego found him guilty. Wedding is now accused with three murders, one attempted murder, and a conspiracy to traffic in cocaine as part of an amended indictment.

Twelve people connected to this network in the United States, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico have been taken into custody by the authorities. Estrada said the group used violence against anybody who dared to undermine its dominance, running its operations “with an iron fist.”

Wedding was known by aliases, such as “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy,” according to the prosecution, which represented his position in the drug trade. They claim that in order to keep control of his billion-dollar business, he resorted to violence, including contract assassinations.