Does This Look Like The Face of A Former Canadian Olympic Snowboarder Busted For Running A Large Cocaine Ring?
ABC - A former Olympic snowboarder is accused of running a major transnational drug trafficking organization that shipped massive amounts of cocaine and allegedly hired hitmen to murder multiple people, federal officials said.
Ryan Wedding, 43, a former Olympian from Canada who now resides in Mexico, is among 16 people charged in a federal indictment, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
The "prolific and ruthless" organized crime group shipped "literally tons of cocaine into the United States and Canada," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said during a press briefing.
Wedding, whose aliases include "El Jefe," "Giant," and "Public Enemy," was previously charged in the original indictment and is the superseding indictment's lead defendant, prosecutors said.
He competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he placed 24th in the giant parallel slalom.
If convicted of murder and attempted murder charges, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison, the DOJ said. The continuing criminal enterprise charges also carry a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison.
Ryan Wedding, a name once synonymous with shredding gnar and catching big air, is now making headlines for a different kind of powder. It seems this former Olympian traded in his snowboard for a much more illicit boardroom, allegedly becoming the kingpin of a billion-dollar cocaine empire.
Talk about going downhill fast.
This isn't just some amateur, dime-bag operation. We're talking "literally tons" of cocaine, enough to make Tony Montana blush.
The Feds say Wedding and his crew were moving so much product, they must have had a nose for the best routes. They allegedly used Los Angeles as their central hub, with long-haul trucks going across both the Mexican and Canadian borders. Which, for anybody who's been across the Mexican border in a car isn't anything impressive, but for Canada- very impressive. They do not play around at Canadian customs. They'll make your 80 year old grandparents pull off to the side and search their car inside and out for the slightest hesitation in response to a question.
And like any good dealer, Wedding knew how to stash his cash. Forget offshore accounts, this guy went full crypto king, allegedly laundering a quarter of a billion dollars in just six months.
But every empire has its downfall. And The Feds finally cracked down seized over a ton of cocaine, firearms, and millions in cash.
Wedding, meanwhile, is currently MIA, probably chilling in a luxury chalet somewhere, sipping hot cocoa and laughing at the FBI's attempts to find him. So, if you happen to see a guy who looks like a cross between Shaun White and Pablo Escobar, do the world a favor and call the authorities.