Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted by US is charged with orchestrating murder of witness
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic snowboarder for Canada who is wanted by authorities for running a multi-national drug trafficking network is facing additional charges in connection with the killing of a federal witness, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday.
Ten other defendants have been arrested on charges in the federal indictment unsealed in California that accuses Ryan Wedding of orchestrating the January killing of the witness in Colombia to help Wedding avoid extradition to the U.S.
Authorities are now offering up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of Wedding, who’s on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list. He’s believed to be living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel, whom authorities say he’s working with closely to funnel massive quantities of drugs into Canada and the U.S.
“Whether you are a street-level drug dealer … or an international drug kingpin, we are coming for you,” Bondi told reporters. “We will find you and you will be accountable and held to justice for your crimes.”
Wedding — whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad King” — was charged in 2024 with running a drug ring that moves some 60 tons of cocaine a year using long-haul semi trucks to bring the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada.
Authorities say Wedding and his co-conspirators used a Canadian website called “the Dirty News” to post a photograph of the witness so he could be identified and killed. The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medellín in January and shot in the head.
“Wedding placed the bounty on the victim’s head, and the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him and his international drug trafficking ring, and would further ensure that he was not extradited to the United States. He was wrong.” said Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor for the Central District of California.
The U.S. government is also offering rewards of up to $2 million for others involved in the killing of the witness.