How an Olympic snowboarder became one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives

(CNN) — Competing for Team Canada, Ryan Wedding finished as the 24th-best parallel giant slalom snowboarder in the world at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Over two decades later, he’s now part of another distinctive group: The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

“Make no mistake about it: Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar. He’s a modern-day iteration of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in November, referring to the notorious drug lords.

Wedding’s current whereabouts, believed to be somewhere in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel, are now the focus of an international manhunt and a $15 million reward for his capture in a case of alleged cocaine trafficking, money laundering and multiple murders aptly nicknamed “Operation Giant Slalom.”

CNN sifted through court documents, FBI announcements and Olympic history to better understand the allegations against Wedding, 44, and his fall from national hero to the elusive alleged drug kingpin known by the aliases “El Jefe” and “Giant.”

“The former Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of death and destruction, here and abroad,” said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Los Angeles Field Division.

Road to the Olympics

Born in 1981 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding was raised in a family of skiers. His grandparents owned a nearby ski mountain, and his uncle, Craig Spiess, was coach of the Canadian national women’s ski team, according to Toronto Life.

He showed an aptitude for snowboarding and made the Canadian national snowboarding team at 15. From 1997 to 2002, Wedding competed in events across the world, including in Italy, France, Chile, Austria and Japan.

“He had no fear,” Bobby Allison, a former national champion ski racer, told Rolling Stone in 2009. “A lot of kids, they say they want to go fast, but they don’t really want to go fast. They hold something back, because there’s a little bit of fear there of falling. Ryan had none of that.”

Wedding competed at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing a disappointing 24th in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event.

He gave up competitive snowboarding soon afterward.

Arrested for drug conspiracy

After his sports career ended, he enrolled at Simon Fraser University and moved to Vancouver, according to Rolling Stone. The magazine reported he took a job as a bouncer at a club and from there entered the drug underworld.

In June 2008, Wedding was arrested along with two others and accused of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, according to a criminal complaint.

The arrest came after Wedding and associates traveled from Canada to San Diego, California, to buy cocaine as part of a drug trafficking organization based in Vancouver, according to an affidavit. The operation was a sting, though, and FBI agents arrested the trio after the deal was done, the affidavit states. Investigators allegedly found $100,000 in cash in their hotel room, the affidavit states.

His two co-defendants pleaded guilty, according to court records, but Wedding took the case to trial. He was found guilty in November 2009, and in 2010 was sentenced to four years in prison, per court records.

At his sentencing hearing, Wedding invoked his sports background in speaking to the court.

“What I did was completely out of character for me, and it is a personal mission of mine to rebuild my reputation,” he said, according to Toronto Life. “As an athlete, I was always taught that there are no second chances, and, well, I’m here asking for exactly that.”

He was released from prison in December 2011, according to inmate records.

Allegations of drug trafficking and murder

Prosecutors say Wedding did not stay true to his sentencing pledge.

In October 2024, federal prosecutors released a superseding indictment charging Wedding with running a criminal enterprise, cocaine trafficking and murder in an operation stretching across the US, Canada, Mexico and Colombia. The indictment says the enterprise began “not later than in or around 2011,” when Wedding was released from prison.

Wedding, his fellow Canadian Andrew Clark and others conspired to move hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from the US into Canada using long-haul semi-trucks, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors also accused Wedding of ordering the killings of several people. He and Clark allegedly directed the November 2023 murders of two members of a family in Ontario “in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment,” according to prosecutors. The two were killed, and a third family member was wounded but survived the shooting, authorities said.

Further, Wedding and Clark allegedly ordered the murder of another person in May 2024 over a drug debt, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors identified Wedding as a fugitive and listed off a string of his aliases, including “James Conrad King,” “El Jefe,” “El Toro,” and “Boss.”

Fifteen other co-defendants were indicted along with him. Clark was arrested in Mexico in October 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court records.

FBI’s Most Wanted list

The stakes were raised even higher in January 2025 after a federal witness in the case against Wedding was shot to death in a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia. Wedding placed a bounty on the man’s head and enlisted others to find and kill him, according to prosecutors.

In March 2025, the FBI added Wedding to its notorious Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and announced the US State Department was offering a reward of up to $10 million for his capture.

The Olympian is among a notorious group that includes people like Omar Cardenas, accused of fatally shooting a man at a large outdoor shopping center in California, and Bhadreshkumar Patel, accused of fatally beating his wife in Maryland.

The FBI released a flyer with photos of Wedding and listed his height at 6-foot-3 and weight of about 240 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

In November, US officials announced the arrest of 10 more defendants – including an attorney for Wedding – related to the killing of the federal witness. The reward for Wedding’s capture was raised to $15 million.

“Wedding placed a bounty on the victim’s head in 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 he was not extradited to the United States,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said. “He was wrong.”

At a news conference, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding’s operation has trafficked 60 metric tons of cocaine per year. He is the “largest distributor of cocaine in Canada,” she said.

“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

In addition, the Treasury Department sanctioned Wedding and seized some of his assets, including a rare 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR Roadster valued at $13 million. The vehicle is one of just six of its type ever made, according to MotorTrend.

While his exact whereabouts are unknown, officials said they believe Wedding is in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel. He is described as “armed and dangerous.” The FBI asked that anyone with information about him should contact the FBI or their nearest American embassy or consulate.

An FBI spokesperson said Wednesday the bureau has received “a good amount of tips” since the reward was increased, though Wedding remains a fugitive.

If convicted of the continuing criminal enterprise charge, he would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in prison.

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