Ryan Wedding timeline: How Canadian went from Olympic athlete to alleged drug kingpin

(NEW YORK) — A former Olympic snowboarder is one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, with authorities comparing the Canadian citizen to notorious drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar.

The alleged drug kingpin — 44-year-old Ryan Wedding — is accused of heading a criminal enterprise that traffics tons of cocaine, engages in murder to further their aims and retaliate, and uses cryptocurrency to conceal their illicit profits.

Wedding faces multiple federal charges in the United States, where authorities have said he is responsible for trafficking “multi-ton quantities of cocaine” from Colombia. He is also wanted by authorities in Canada on separate charges, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The FBI dubbed its operation into the alleged criminal organization “Giant Slalom” — a nod to Wedding’s Olympic event — and has warned the fugitive should be considered dangerous.

Wedding — whose alleged aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy” — is believed to be in Mexico, being protected by the Sinaloa cartel, according to the FBI.

Here’s a look at Wedding’s path from premier athlete to alleged drug kingpin.

Feb. 27, 1999

Wedding wins the bronze medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom event at the 1999 Junior World Championship.

March 8, 2001

Wedding wins the silver medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom event at the 2001 Junior World Championships.

Feb. 14, 2002

Wedding competes for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he places 24th in the men’s giant parallel slalom.

June 13, 2008

Wedding is arrested in San Diego and subsequently charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to court records. According to the federal complaint, he conspired with two others to buy 24 kilograms of cocaine, unwittingly from an FBI source, as part of a Vancouver-based drug trafficking organization.

Nov. 30, 2009

A jury finds Wedding guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

May 28, 2010

A federal judge sentences Wedding to 48 months in prison.

Dec. 7, 2011

Wedding is released from U.S. federal prison. Federal prosecutors allege he would go on to found his criminal enterprise.

Nov. 20, 2023

Two parents are murdered in front of their daughter, who was also injured, in a case of mistaken identity in Ontario, according to federal prosecutors. Wedding and his alleged second-in-command — Andrew Clark, a fellow Canadian — had allegedly ordered the retaliatory murder of a Canadian drug trafficker, believing the driver had stolen 300 kilograms of cocaine from them, according to a federal indictment.

The assassin crew broke into a house that the family was renting, fatally shooting the two victims and seriously injuring a third, mistakenly believing they were family members of the co-conspirator, according to the indictment. The couple’s daughter was shot multiple times but survived, prosecutors said.

April 1, 2024

An individual was killed in Ontario, allegedly at the order of Clark and another man involved in the criminal enterprise, according to federal prosecutors.

May 18, 2024

Another individual is killed over a drug debt, allegedly at the order of Wedding and Clark, according to federal prosecutors.

June 18, 2024

A sealed, six-count indictment is filed against Wedding and Clark in Los Angeles federal court, charging them with running a criminal enterprise, committing murder in support of the enterprise and conspiring to distribute and export cocaine.

Sept. 17, 2024

A superseding indictment is filed in Los Angeles federal court against Wedding, Clark and 14 others. The 16-count indictment includes, among others, an attempted murder charge against Wedding and Clark.

The indictment alleges that the enterprise conspired to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Southern California to Canada. The cocaine was allegedly transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where it was stored in stash houses before being transported to Canada via long-haul semi-trucks, according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleges the organization committed multiple murders to achieve its aims, including the killings and attempted murder of the family members in November 2023 in Ontario and the murders of the individuals in April 2024 and May 2024.

Wedding and others allegedly made billions of dollars through the enterprise, which was moved around in the form of cryptocurrency, prosecutors say.

Law enforcement has seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in U.S. currency and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency as part of its investigation into the so-called Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization, the DOJ says.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to Wedding’s arrest.

Oct. 8, 2024

Clark is arrested by Mexican authorities, according to the Department of Justice. He is subsequently extradited to the U.S.

Oct. 17, 2024

On the same day federal prosecutors announce the superseding indictment, Wedding’s attorney allegedly advises him and Clark that if a federal witness were killed, the federal charges against them “would necessarily be dismissed,” according to a subsequent federal indictment.

Wedding then allegedly places a bounty of up to $5 million on the witness in exchange for “any person locating and killing” the individual, according to the indictment.

Jan. 31, 2025

The federal witness is killed while eating at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, by an unknown shooter, according to a federal indictment. The witness, who was not identified in the indictment, was shot in the head five times, prosecutors said.  

Following confirmation of the witness’ death, Wedding allegedly facilitates an approximately $500,000 payment to members of the conspiracy in Colombia via an encrypted platform, according to the indictment.

March 6, 2025

Wedding is added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

The U.S. Department of State is now offering a reward of up to $10 million for his capture. The reward is “jointly being offered with assistance from the Canadian and Mexican governments as part of a unified effort to bring Wedding to justice,” the FBI says.

March 24, 2025

Clark pleads not guilty to his federal charges. His trial is set to begin in February 2026.

Oct. 28, 2025

A new federal indictment is filed against Wedding in Los Angeles federal court, accusing him of orchestrating the murder of the witness in Colombia. Eighteen others, including his Ontario-based lawyer, are also charged in the indictment in connection with his alleged criminal enterprise. The lawyer — who has not yet entered a plea — is accused of advising Wedding that if he killed the witness, then criminal charges against him in his 2024 federal narcotics case would be dropped, prosecutors said.

The indictment alleges that the criminal enterprise worked with members and associates of prominent Mexican drug cartels to move hundreds of kilograms of cocaine via boats and planes from Colombia to Mexico at a time, then used semi-trucks to smuggle the drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nov. 19, 2025

The U.S. Department of State increases its reward for information regarding Wedding to $15 million.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctions Wedding, as well as multiple individuals and entities closely associated with him.

Dec. 8, 2025

U.S. officials release new photos of Wedding. In one, a newly obtained photo released by the Los Angeles FBI office, Wedding is seen lying in a bed shirtless, with a prominent tattoo of a lion on his chest, in a photo authorities said is believed to have been taken in Mexico during the summer of 2025. In the other, shared by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, Wedding is seen with a different haircut and facial hair in an undated photo.