A former Olympic snowboarder is officially one of the most wanted men in the United States by federal authorities, and a $10 million award is being offered to anyone who can provide information that leads to his arrest.
Ryan Wedding, a 43-year-old former snowboarder from Canada, has been added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list. The U.S. State Department announced the news and the $10 million reward on Thursday.
Wedding was first charged in June with murder and drug crimes. The charges were then augmented in September after authorities say they obtained evidence that Wedding and others shipped 60 tons of cocaine a year between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada using semi trucks.
“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,” Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in a press release. “The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man.”
Authorities say Wedding, who is known to some as “El Jefe,” had a role in the killing of two members of a family in Canada over a stolen drug shipment. Officials said the two individuals were the victims of mistaken identity. Wedding is also accused of having a hand in the murders of two other people.
Wedding was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010 and sentenced to four years in prison. Authorities say Wedding fled to Mexico after being released and became a high-ranking member of the largest drug cartel in the country.
Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. He finished 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom.
