U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday a case against Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada, who is accused of being a major drug lord. This press conference was held in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme.
Wedding, who competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, has now made the FBI’s list of 10 most-wanted fugitives. Bondi disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice is charging Wedding with two additional counts of witness tampering and intimidation, in addition to money laundering and drug trafficking. She described him as the leader of a highly dangerous and pervasive drug trafficking organization.
The charges detail a horrific allegation: Wedding is accused of orchestrating the murder of a federal witness before he could testify against him. This witness was killed in a Medellin, Colombia restaurant, with the FBI alleging Wedding used a now-defunct website, “The Dirty News,” to publicly share identifying photos of the witness and his spouse to track him down.
In a significant strategic move, the U.S. State Department has increased the reward for information leading to Wedding’s capture from $10 million to $15 million. Bondi underscored the urgency of addressing the epidemic of drug-related deaths, declaring, “drugs are killing our kids,” and reaffirmed the commitment to targeting both street-level dealers and high-ranking drug traffickers.
The investigation into Wedding’s operations has resulted in more than 35 other individuals being indicted. Authorities report the seizure of over 2,000 kilograms of cocaine and various firearms, along with the recovery of approximately $3.2 million in cryptocurrency and $13 million in physical assets linked to narcotics trafficking.
In a striking comparison, Patel described Wedding as a “modern-day iteration” of infamous drug lords like Pablo Escobar and El Chapo, emphasizing the severity of the narcotics operation that Wedding has allegedly established. He called for public assistance in reporting any information related to Wedding’s whereabouts, asserting that law enforcement will not relent in their mission to bring him to justice.
Commissioner Duheme highlighted the successful collaboration among law enforcement agencies while stressing that the pursuit of Wedding, who poses a significant threat to Canadian public safety, continues.
Adding to the complexity of the case, Atna Onha, identified by his alias “Tupac,” appeared in a Montreal court by videoconference on charges linked to murder and cocaine trafficking, although specifics of the charges remain sealed.
This high-profile case demonstrates the ongoing commitment of law enforcement to dismantle powerful drug trafficking networks and brings attention to the pressing issues of drug-related violence and public safety.