Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is facing new U.S. charges after allegedly ordering the murder of a federal witness in Colombia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the 44-year-old, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics before allegedly becoming one of Canada's biggest cocaine traffickers, ran "one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world," moving more than 130,000 pounds of cocaine per year, according to TMZ.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Nov. 19), Bondi said that after Wedding was indicted in late 2024, he allegedly placed a bounty on a witness preparing to testify against him. That witness was fatally shot on Jan. 31, 2025.
“[Wedding] used a Canadian website called The Dirty News to post photographs of the witness and his wife in order to locate him, which ultimately succeeded,” Bondi said. “The witness was gunned down in a restaurant in Medellín before he could testify against Wedding.”
Bondi added that Wedding allegedly worked with the Sinaloa cartel to “flood not only American but also Canadian communities with cocaine coming from Colombia,” importing roughly 60 metric tons a year into Los Angeles via semi-trucks.
Investigators have reportedly indicted more than 35 people and seized over 2,000 kilos of cocaine, weapons, more than $3 million in cryptocurrency, and more than $13 million in physical assets.
Wedding, a fugitive believed to be under cartel protection, now faces additional charges including murder, witness tampering and intimidation, money laundering, and drug trafficking.
The U.S. State Department is offering $15 million for information leading to his capture.
