LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A former Canadian Olympian wanted for murder and using bigs rigs to smuggle drugs has been named to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
As The Trucker reported in October 2024, Ryan Wedding, 43, an Olympic snowboarder, is wanted for running a transnational drug enterprise and ordering several murders.
HIs inclusion in the list was announced in a press conference on Thursday by Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge (ADIC) of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. Davis was joined by law enforcement partners with the United States Department of State, Royal Canadian Mounted Police–Federal Policing, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration–Los Angeles and the United States Attorney’s Office–Central District of California.
Olympian Gone Bad
Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King,” was born in Thunder Bay, Canada, and competed in the Giant Slalom snowboarding competition during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Wedding is wanted for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking network that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, and for orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder in furtherance of these drug crimes, according to an FBI media release.
Wedding’s placement on the top ten list marks the 535th addition to the FBI’s list of notorious fugitives. Wedding will replace Alexis Flores who is wanted by FBI Philadelphia. Although Flores is being removed from the list, he will remain on the FBI’s website on its Most Wanted page.
From Shredding Powder to Selling It
“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,” Davis said. “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man, and his addition to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, coupled with a major reward offer by the State Department, will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger.”
$10 Million Reward
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest and/or conviction. The reward was authorized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP), which supports law enforcement efforts to disrupt transnational crime globally and bring fugitives to justice. This reward offering supplements the FBI’s current offering of $50,000 for information leading to Wedding’s apprehension, arrest, and extradition, and further, is jointly being offered with assistance from the Canadian and Mexican governments as part of a unified effort to bring Wedding to justice.
Committed to Protecting Americans
“The Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ryan James Wedding,” said F. Cartwright Weiland, senior bureau official of the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). “We are committed to protecting American communities from thugs who, with clear consciences, deliberately peddle illicit narcotics and prey on our youth.
Background
In June 2024, Wedding and his second-in-command Andrew Clark, 34, also Canadian, were charged in an indictment out of the Central District of California with running a continuing criminal enterprise; committing murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and assorted drug crimes; and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine. Clark, who was arrested last October by Mexican authorities, was among the 29 fugitives whom Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced had arrived in the United States from Mexico last week.
In September 2024, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a superseding indictment naming 14 additional defendants and including, among other counts, an attempted murder charge against Wedding and Clark. The superseding indictment alleges that Wedding, Clark, and others conspired to ship bulk quantities of cocaine—weighing hundreds of kilograms—from Southern California to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network run by Hardeep Ratte, 46, of Ontario, Canada, and Gurpreet Singh, 31, of Ontario, Canada, from approximately January 2024 to August 2024. The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where the cocaine trafficking organization’s operatives stored the cocaine in stash houses, before delivering it to the transportation network couriers for delivery to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks.
Flooding Streets with Narcotics
“As alleged in the superseding indictment, defendant Ryan Wedding—a former Olympian—led a transnational criminal organization that murdered innocent people and put thousands of kilograms of narcotics on our streets,” said Joseph T. McNally, acting United States Attorney. “The reward offered today will help bring this defendant to justice in the United States. We urge anyone with information about Wedding to contact law enforcement and help us get Mr. Wedding into custody.”
Violent Murders
The superseding indictment also alleges that Wedding and Clark’s organization resorted to violence—including multiple murders—to achieve its aims. Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the November 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California. Another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries. Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt. In addition, Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a dual Canadian-American citizen, are charged with the April 1, 2024, murder of another victim in Ontario, Canada.
“The RCMP is committed to working with our international partners in the fight against transnational criminals,” said Liam Price, director general, Royal Canadian Mounted Police International program. “It’s imperative that Ryan Wedding faces justice for the charges against him. We will continue to stand with and support our US and Mexican partners in this and other investigations to protect the public.”
Life in Prison if Convicted
If convicted, Wedding and Clark would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on their respective continuing criminal enterprise charge. The murder and attempted murder charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The drug trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum penalties of 10 to 15 years in prison.
“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 Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division. “He earned the name ‘El Jefe’, becoming boss of a violent transnational drug trafficking organization. Now, his face will be on ‘The Top 10 Most Wanted’ posters. He’s unremitting, callous and greed-driven. Today’s announcement beams an even brighter searchlight on him. We ask that you help us find him.”
Tips Wanted
The FBI urges anyone with information as to Wedding’s whereabouts to contact the FBI via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram at +1-424 495-0614. These are neither government-operated nor government-controlled platforms. Callers may also contact their local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. Confidentiality will be granted to anyone who calls with information.
Investigators believe that Wedding is residing in Mexico but have not ruled out his presence in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica or elsewhere. Wedding is further described as follows:
Aliases: James Conrad King, Jesse King
DOB: September 14, 1981
Hair: Brown, may wear a beard and/or mustache
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 240 lbs. (may vary)
Nationality: Canadian
Place of Birth: Thunder Bay, Canada
Monikers: “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “El Jefe”
Photographs and reward information about Wedding will be posted on digital billboards in key locations, as well as on fbi.gov, and on the FBI’s social media platforms. Additional information about Wedding and other Top Ten Fugitives is available at this link: Top Ten Fugitives.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
