Justice Department and FBI announce new charges and reward for Ryan’s wedding
Canadian former snowboarding Olympian Ryan Wedding faces new charges in the United States for allegedly running a cocaine empire tied to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
An astonishing number of “luxury” motorcycles worth an estimated $40 million were seized in Mexico earlier this month, and authorities believe they belonged to former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.
The 44-year-old Canadian is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitive List for allegedly running an international drug ring that transported cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, Canada and the United States. Just last month, the U.S. Department of Justice increased the reward to $15 million for information leading to Wedding’s arrest and conviction.
On Monday, December 29, the FBI Los Angeles office released several photos of what Mexican authorities had recovered. Mexico’s Secretariat for Security and Civil Protection said 62 motorcycles, two vehicles, artwork, two Olympic medals and drugs were among the items found.
Last month, authorities executed search warrants on four properties in Mexico City that led to the recovery. However, weddings are still widely held. Officials believe he is in Mexico and being protected by the Sinaloa cartel.
Wedding was indicted last year in Los Angeles federal court on multiple drug-related charges. In November, a new charge was added for ordering the killing of a witness in a federal case.
Wedding represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom.
