Current:Home > ScamsCanadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted in US drug trafficking case -Quantum Capital Pro
Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted in US drug trafficking case
View
Date:2025-04-14 00:20:10
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Olympic snowboarder for Canada has been charged with running a drug trafficking ring that shipped vast amounts of cocaine across the Americas and killed several people, authorities said Thursday.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian citizen who was living in Mexico and is considered a fugitive. The 43-year-old is charged in the United States with running a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiring to distribute cocaine and other crimes, U.S. prosecutors said.
U.S. authorities said Wedding’s group moved large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other locations in the United States using long-haul semi-trucks. Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder who also faces years-old charges in Canada, is one of 16 people charged in connection with a ring that moved 60 tons of cocaine a year, and four of them remain fugitives, said Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles.
“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and he chose to become a killer,” Estrada told reporters.
Krysti Hawkins, FBI special agent in charge in Los Angeles, said a dozen people were arrested in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia and Mexico in connection with the case.
U.S. authorities allege the group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what officials there said was a case of mistaken identity, and at least one other person. Authorities said they seized cocaine, weapons, ammunition, cash and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency in connection with their investigation.
Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, authorities said.
Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, said Chris Leather, chief superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Those charges are very much unresolved,” Leather said.
Wedding previously was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute to cocaine and he was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. Estrada said U.S. authorities believe that after Wedding’s release, he resumed drug trafficking and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
veryGood! (767)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Trump will attend Al Smith charity dinner that Harris is skipping to campaign in battleground state
- Analysis: Verstappen shows his petty side when FIA foolishly punishes him for cursing
- Florida officials pressure schools to roll back sex ed lessons on contraception and consent
- Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
- Hayden Panettiere Addresses Concerns About Slurred Speech and Medication
- Kentucky’s Supreme Court will soon have a woman at its helm for the first time
- Buffalo Bills destroy Jacksonville Jaguars on 'Monday Night Football'
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- GM, Ford, Daimler Truck, Kia among 653,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Why playing it too safe with retirement savings could be a mistake
- Exclusive: Watch 'The Summit' learn they have 14 days to climb mountain for $1 million
- Carly Rae Jepsen Engaged to Producer Cole MGN: See Her Ring
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Boyd Gaming buys Resorts Digital online gambling operation
- A state senator has thwarted a GOP effort to lock down all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for Trump
- GM, Ford, Daimler Truck, Kia among 653,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
Recommendation
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
Keith Urban Shares Update on Nicole Kidman After Her Mom’s Death
'Emily in Paris' star Lucas Bravo is more than a heartthrob: 'Mystery is sexy'
Buffalo Bills destroy Jacksonville Jaguars on 'Monday Night Football'
Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
Reggie Bush sues USC, Pac-12 and NCAA to seek NIL compensation from football career 2 decades ago
2 lawmen linked to Maine’s deadliest shooting are vying for job as county sheriff
Father turns in 10-year-old son after he allegedly threatened to 'shoot up' Florida school