The FBI has placed former Olympic athlete Ryan James Wedding, 43, on its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. Wedding, who represented Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics, is accused of running a vast international drug trafficking network. According to the FBI, he allegedly shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and parts of the U.S. and is also wanted for orchestrating several murders and an attempted murder linked to these drug crimes.
The U.S. Department of State has put a $10 million reward on any information that leads to Wedding’s arrest and conviction, while the FBI is offering an additional $50,000 for tips that result in his capture and extradition. Although authorities believe Wedding is currently hiding in Mexico, they have not ruled out that he could be elsewhere, including in the U.S. or Canada.
“Wedding went from competing in the Olympics to running a dangerous drug empire,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, describing him as “a very dangerous man.”
In June 2024, Wedding and his alleged second-in-command, Andrew Clark, 34, were indicted in California on charges including running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder related to that enterprise, various drug crimes, and conspiracy to handle large amounts of cocaine. A later superseding indictment in September 2024 expanded the case, naming 14 additional defendants and charging Wedding and Clark with an attempted murder as well.
The indictment alleges that Wedding and Clark coordinated to ship bulk cocaine—totaling hundreds of kilograms—from Southern California to Canada via a drug transportation network based in Canada, with shipments coming from Mexico. They are accused of using extreme violence, including ordering multiple murders, to secure their criminal operation. One particularly brutal act allegedly occurred in November 2023 in Ontario, Canada, where they ordered the killing of two family members in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, leaving another family member seriously injured. Clark was arrested in October by Mexican authorities as part of a group of 29 fugitives who had recently crossed into the U.S.
If convicted, Wedding and Clark face severe penalties: a mandatory life sentence for the continuing criminal enterprise charge, at least 20 years for their murder and attempted murder charges, and 10 to 15 years for drug trafficking offenses.
