Attorney General Pam Bondi stands near wanted poster for Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding as she speaks with reporters during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington.Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press
RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme joined U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and other American officials in Washington to announce new arrests, sanctions and ongoing efforts to locate and arrest Canadian ex-Olympic snowboarder-turned-fugitive Ryan Wedding, who prosecutors allege leads a transnational crime network.
Appearing at a joint news conference in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a new indictment outlining charges against more of Mr. Wedding’s alleged associates and increased the reward for information leading to the alleged drug kingpin’s arrest from $10-million to $15-million.
Here’s a breakdown of the former Team Canada Olympian, the charges against him and why he is alleged to be one of North America’s most significant criminal overlords. This information is based on court documents filed in the U.S. and Canada, which contain allegations that haven’t been tested in court.
Who is Ryan Wedding?
Mr. Wedding, who competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list since March.
The 43-year-old from Thunder Bay is wanted for allegedly leading an organized crime group that moved large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other locations in the United States. Police on both sides of the border have alleged that Mr. Wedding has been sheltered by the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, which was recently designated a terrorist group by the Canadian and U.S. governments.
Mr. Wedding – whose aliases include “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy” – is also wanted for allegedly orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder.
“Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar. He is a modern-day iteration of El Chapo,” FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
Commissioner Duheme estimated that the Wedding organization makes more than $1-billion per year.
What charges does Ryan Wedding face in the U.S.?
Mr. Wedding is facing eight felony charges, including conspiracy to export cocaine, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and one count of attempted murder.
U.S. indictments for Wedding’s arrest allege he conspired to bring bulk amounts of cocaine into the United States and Canada. It alleges Wedding was also involved in violence and murder to maintain his drug ring.
The U.S. Treasury Department also announced on Wednesday that it is sanctioning Mr. Wedding, his alleged accomplices and is seizing millions of dollars from them. Authorities have also increased the reward for information leading to Mr. Wedding’s arrest from $10-million to $15-million.
The charges have not been proven in court.
What charges does Ryan Wedding face in Canada?
Mr. Wedding and another Canadian citizen, who was arrested by Mexican authorities in October, are accused of directing the Nov. 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Caledon, Ont., in what police have alleged was a plot to retaliate for a stolen drug shipment. Ontario Provincial Police have said the family was “completely innocent” and mistakenly targeted.
Two murders in Ontario’s Niagara and Peel regions last year were also connected to the alleged drug ring, police allege.
Mr. Wedding also faces separate “unresolved” drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, the RCMP said in October.
The RCMP has said it worked with the FBI for over a year to investigate the alleged criminal network. Various law enforcement agencies across Canada, U.S., Mexico and Colombia assisted the investigation.
What other arrests have been made?
Seven people from Canada were arrested in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec, including a lawyer who allegedly provided illegal services to Mr. Wedding and two others are wanted. U.S. authorities have said that 10 people total were arrested earlier this week as part of the international takedown.
RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said Canadian police arrested seven out of eight individuals the Mounties were seeking with alleged ties to the Wedding network and all of the suspects arrested in Canada are to be tried in the U.S. The charges they face include conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking.
The individuals charged in Canada are:
Deepak ParadkarAtna OnhaRolan SokolovskiAllistair ChapmanAhmad Nabil ZitounGursewak Singh BalEdwin Basora-HernandezTommy Demorizi, who is not in custodyRasheed Pascua Hossain, who is not in custody
Canadian lawyer Deepak Paradkar was among those arrested on Tuesday, officials said. Mr. Paradkar faces the same U.S. conspiracy charges, including murder conspiracy charges, as several of the other arrested Canadians, officials said.
The joint announcement on Wednesday follows the arrest of Atna Onha, a Montreal man charged with murder conspiracy, who the U.S. is seeking to extradite, amid media reports that his case is related to international drug-trafficking allegations against Mr. Wedding.
The total number of those arrested and sought in connection with the Wedding network is now more than 30, officials said.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
With reports from Colin Freeze, Eric Andrew-Gee and The Canadian Press.