At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Ryan James Wedding represented the dream of a young Canadian athlete. Competing in the snowboard parallel giant slalom, he was seen as a rising star. But two decades later, that promise has turned into notoriety. Wedding now stands accused of running a billion‑dollar drug empire, ordering murders, and laundering money around the world. The U.S. government has placed him on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, offering a record $15 million reward, the largest ever for a former Olympian.
Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 1981, Wedding grew up immersed in snow sports. He joined Canada’s National Ski Team at age 15, winning bronze at the 1999 Junior World Championship and silver in 2001. His Olympic appearance in 2002 should have been the launch of a long athletic career. Instead, his 24th‑place finish marked the beginning of a steady decline that would ultimately lead him far beyond the slopes and deep into the criminal underworld.
From the Slopes to the Drug Scene
After the Olympics, Wedding returned to British Columbia and studied briefly at Simon Fraser University while working as a nightclub bouncer. Soon, however, he left school to focus on business ventures, including real estate. Police later claimed those ventures were backed by profits from a large marijuana grow operation.
In 2006, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a property called Eighteen Carrot Farms, seizing almost 7,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated $10 million. Wedding avoided arrest, but investigators say the close call only pushed him toward more dangerous territory. By 2008, he had shifted into the cocaine trade. That June, he was arrested in San Diego while trying to buy 24 kilograms of cocaine from undercover agents. Convicted in 2010, he served four years in a U.S. federal prison.
Authorities believe his time behind bars was transformative. Instead of turning away from crime, he allegedly came out better connected and more ambitious, ready to build something much larger.
Building a Billion‑Dollar Network
After his release in 2011, Wedding was expected to return home to Canada. Investigators say he instead fled to Mexico and joined the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the world’s most powerful drug organizations. Operating under aliases like “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” he reportedly climbed the ranks, using his North American contacts to establish a cocaine pipeline stretching from Colombia to Canada.
U.S. prosecutors allege that, from 2011 to 2023, Wedding’s organization smuggled cocaine from South America through Mexico, storing it in Los Angeles before trucking it north into Canada. Two Ontario men, Hardeep Ratte and Gurpreet Singh, allegedly managed distribution in Canada. Authorities intercepted multiple shipments, including nearly 300 kilograms in March 2024 and 375 kilograms in April. They estimate the network moved around 60 metric tons of cocaine annually, worth up to $2 billion a year.
To hide and move the profits, investigators say Wedding created a sophisticated money‑laundering network that spanned continents. Toronto jeweler Rolan Sokolovski allegedly funneled drug proceeds through cryptocurrency, rare watches, and luxury jewelry. In Europe, ex‑Italian special forces member Gianluca Tiepolo reportedly used vehicle import businesses to clean illicit funds. Even a Canadian defense lawyer, Deepak Balwant Paradkar, now faces charges for helping facilitate communications, bribery, and attempted murder linked to the network.
Police raids in late 2024 revealed the lavish scope of Wedding’s empire. Mexican authorities seized 62 high‑end motorcycles, some valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars each and U.S. agents confiscated a rare Mercedes‑Benz CLK‑GTR Roadster worth $13 million. Among other items found were Wedding’s two Olympic medals, poignant symbols of his lost sporting life.
Violence, Murder, and the Global Chase
Investigators say Wedding’s organization enforced its operations through violence. In November 2023, two people were shot dead in Caledon, Ontario, in what prosecutors describe as a revenge attack triggered by a missing 300‑kilogram shipment of cocaine. A surviving family member identified the gunmen, linking the killings to Wedding’s associates.
The violence extended overseas. In January 2025, Jonathan Acebedo‑García, a protected witness in Colombia, was murdered while dining in Medellín. Prosecutors claim Wedding placed a multimillion‑dollar bounty on his head after learning the witness planned to testify against him. A Canadian lawyer allegedly advised that the murder could derail the case. Despite warnings from concerned citizens about online threats, the informant’s killing went ahead, sparking questions about missed chances to prevent it.
As the evidence mounted, the American government intensified its pursuit. In March 2025, the FBI placed Wedding on its Ten Most Wanted list with a $10 million reward, later increased to $15 million after new charges connected him to the Medellín murder. Officials have likened his role in the North American cocaine trade to that of the infamous cartel leaders of earlier decades.
Despite over 30 arrests of alleged associates and the seizure of more than $53 million in assets, Wedding himself remains at large. Authorities believe he is hiding in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, shielded by a network of false identities and loyal enforcers. Former U.S. agents say his capture may depend on cooperation from Mexican forces, or a trusted insider willing to exchange information for safety or reward.
More than two decades after stepping onto the Olympic stage, Ryan James Wedding’s story has transformed from one of national pride to one of global infamy. What began with a snowboard run in Utah now stands as one of the most extraordinary reversals in Canadian sports history, a cautionary tale of talent, temptation, and the far‑reaching cost of ambition gone astray.
Sources:
16 Defendants Charged in Superseding Indictment Alleging Bulk Shipments of Cocaine to Canada, Four Murders. U.S. Department of Justice, October 17, 2024
Operation GIANT SLALOM. Royal Canadian Mounted Police, November 19, 2025
10 Arrested in Federal Indictment Charging Olympic Athlete-Turned-Cocaine Trafficker with Ordering Murder of Witness in January. U.S. Department of Justice, November 19, 2025
Treasury Sanctions Former Canadian Olympian and Notorious Drug Trafficker Ryan Wedding and His Criminal Network. U.S. Department of the Treasury, November 24, 2025
Notice of OFAC Sanctions Actions. Federal Register, November 24, 2025