FBI Says Olympic Snowboarder Wanted For Running Murderous Drug Ring

A former Olympic snowboarder from Canada and 15 others have been charged for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking operation that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to Canada and the United States.

Federal authorities also accuse the defendants of "callous and greed-driven crimes" including murder.

Canadian citizens Ryan James Wedding, 43, and Andrew Clark, 34, were previously charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to possess, distribute and export cocaine.

Clark was arrested on October 8 by Mexican law enforcement.

Wedding remains a fugitive and is on the FBI's Most Wanted list with a $50,000 reward offered for his capture.

Wedding, whose aliases include "El Jefe," "Giant," and "Public Enemy," competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

He is charged with eight felonies: two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime and one count of attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.

Clark, whose aliases include "The Dictator," is charged with the same eight felonies, plus an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.

Wedding, Clark and others allegedly conspired to ship bulk quantities of cocaine from Southern California to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network run by Hardeep Ratte, 45, of Ontario and Gurpreet Singh, 30, of Ontario from approximately January 2024 to August 2024.

The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where they allegedly would store the cocaine in stash houses, before delivering it to the transportation network couriers for transportation to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks.

Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the November 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Ontario in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California.

The pair allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt.

Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a resident of Canada, are charged with the April 1, 2024, murder of another victim in Ontario.

"An Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest."

During the investigation, law enforcement has seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in United States currency and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency, the Justice Department said.

Several of the defendants arrested are expected to make court appearances soon in Los Angeles, Michigan, and Miami.

If convicted, Wedding, Clark, and Cunningham would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the murder and attempted murder charges.

The continuing criminal enterprise charges also carry a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison.

The drug trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum penalties between 10 and 15 years in prison.

"Wedding, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes," Matthew Allen, DEA special agent said.