Notorious Canadian Olympian-turned-alleged-drug-kingpin Ryan Wedding, who the FBI has compared to Pablo Escobar, is in the spotlight again after U.S. officials laid new charges against him, arrested nearly a dozen of his associates and announced a hefty hike in the reward offered for his capture.
The reward is now set at $15 million US, up from $10 million, for the 44-year-old Canadian whose name has been on the FBI’s most-wanted list since March.
Wedding — whose nicknames include El Jefe (The Boss), Giant, Public Enemy and Buddy — has been accused of cocaine trafficking and murder. U.S. officials have alleged that he operates one of the world’s most prolific drug-trafficking organizations and is Canada’s dominant source of cocaine.
Today, Wedding remains at large and likely living under the protection of the infamously dangerous Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, according to U.S. law enforcement. “When you have a $10 million reward on you and no one is coming forward, it just tells you where he is in the hierarchy of Mexican cartels,” RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme previously told CBC News.
WATCH | RCMP commissioner speaks about Ryan Wedding:
RCMP commissioner speaks to CBC after Ryan Wedding update from U.S. authorities
U.S. officials outlined new charges against former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding at a news conference in Washington, D.C., calling him one of the most powerful drug lords in the world. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme spoke about Canada’s role in the investigation. After, Duheme discussed the latest developments and the ongoing search for Wedding with CBC News.
So, how did a budding Canadian star athlete from Thunder Bay, Ont., go from gliding through white powder to trafficking it, ultimately becoming one of North America’s more notorious alleged drug lords?
Let’s start at the beginning.
Sept. 14, 1981: Wedding born in Thunder Bay
Wedding was born in 1981 in Thunder Bay to a family that was deeply entrenched in snow sports. His grandparents operated a ski hill, and he’s related to multiple competitive skiers, according to several reports.
When Wedding was still a kid, the family moved to British Columbia, where he started his snowboarding career at the age of 12. He was quickly recognized for his talent and ultimately began competing. His early success earned him a coveted spot representing Canada in the Winter Olympics in 2002.
February 2002: Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
At 20 years old, Wedding was stirring up a lot of fanfare; he’d fared well in competitions as a teenager, medalling in several.
Wedding competing at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Utah in 2002. (Jeff J Mitchell/Reuters)
In 2002, Wedding hit the world’s biggest athletic stage, competing in the parallel giant slalom at the Winter Olympics in Utah. But the experience was a letdown. The young athlete didn’t medal, placing 24th. Shortly after, Wedding quit competitive snowboarding and moved to Vancouver, where he studied at Simon Fraser University for two years before dropping out, according to a deep dive about him in Toronto Life.
Wedding got into bodybuilding while living in Vancouver and worked as a nightclub bouncer. He also tried his hand at real estate, which seemingly helped him finance his next career jump: a cannabis operation.
Wedding allegedly started mass-producing cannabis at a rural property in Maple Ridge, B.C., known as Eighteen Carrot Farms.
September 2006: RCMP raid property tied to Wedding
The RCMP raided Eighteen Carrot Farms on Sept. 22, 2006, after receiving a tip, and found about $10 million worth of dried cannabis and potted plants. Wedding wasn’t on site, however, and the RCMP didn’t have enough evidence linking him to the property to press charges.
June 13, 2008: Wedding arrested in the U.S.
While in San Diego, Calif., in 2008, Wedding was arrested during a sting operation: the former professional snowboarder had attempted to buy 24 kilograms of cocaine — which he was planning to smuggle into Canada — from an undercover police informant.
WATCH | Who is Ryan Wedding?:
Ryan Wedding, the Canadian at the centre of one of the biggest international criminal investigations in the world, continues to evade capture thanks in part, the FBI says, to protection from the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and other criminal entities in Mexico. He’s been on the run since 2015, wanted in connection with multiple drug and conspiracy crimes, in addition to ordering and orchestrating murder.November 2009: Wedding faces trial
Following his arrest in the U.S., Wedding’s case went to trial and he was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to 48 months in U.S. federal prison, with time served.
According to reports, Wedding had voiced remorse, claiming his actions were “out of character.”
“In the past 24 months I’ve spent in custody, I’ve had an opportunity to see firsthand what drugs do to people, and honestly, I’m ashamed that I became a part of the problem for years,” Wedding told the judge, who issued a relatively light sentence.
Apr. 21, 2015: Another police sting
Wedding was living in Montreal following his release from U.S. prison on Dec. 7, 2011. But it wasn’t until the spring of 2015 that he became one of the targets of yet another police sting — Operation Harrington. Wedding allegedly worked with the Sinaloa cartel to import about $750-million worth of cocaine from Mexico and Colombia into Canada.
By the time the RCMP descended on Wedding’s enterprise, however, he was gone. Law enforcement arrested several people and seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine, but Wedding, considered to be the “man in charge,” had escaped. He’s been on the run ever since.
2015 to 2024: A busy decade
According to court documents, Wedding and his associates — the “Wedding Criminal Enterprise” — spent the next decade procuring and trafficking cocaine from Colombia into Mexico, the United States and Canada, while promoting a “culture of fear through acts of violence and threats to commit acts of violence.” Authorities believe Wedding was living in Mexico during this time, with his network trafficking a whopping $1-billion US worth of narcotics every year.
In addition to drug trafficking, his network is accused of laundering staggering profits and threatening and/or committing murder of anyone “perceived to be a threat to the enterprise’s operations,” a court document says. For example, Wedding and his presumed second-in-command, Canadian Andrew Clark, allegedly had members of an Ontario family mistakenly killed in November 2023 in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, court documents say.
In another alleged case, the pair ordered the murder of another person in May 2024 over a drug debt.
Early 2024: A breakthrough for law enforcement
One of Wedding’s former associates, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, became a government informant, creating a domino effect of developments. Several raids in the U.S. and Canada resulted in arrests of accomplices and millions of dollars worth of drugs seized.
WATCH | Wedding’s Canadian associates:
What we know about Ryan Wedding’s alleged Canadian associates
As U.S. officials unveiled new allegations of Olympian-turned-fugitive Ryan Wedding’s vast criminal reach, details of his alleged Canadian associates are coming into focus, including his Toronto area lawyer accused of counseling him to kill. June 2024: New charges
Wedding, along with Clark, was charged in the U.S. 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.”
Oct. 17, 2024: U.S. Department of Justice charges 16 defendants
Wedding, Clark and 14 additional co-defendants were named in a 16-count superseding indictment for allegedly running and participating in a drug trafficking operation that moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine across multiple countries. The bombshell U.S. Department of Justice announcement referenced multiple alleged murders orchestrated by Wedding and his associates to further their drug crimes. It was part of the ongoing FBI and RCMP Operation Giant Slalom, a fittingly named investigation into Wedding’s network.
Wedding, seen top left, along with 15 other defendants who were charged in October 2024, are displayed on a monitor during a news conference. (Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press)
Amid all of this attention from investigators, Wedding reportedly demanded Acebedo-Garcia be hunted down, offering sizable rewards. A Montreal hit man, Atna Onha, confirmed the informant was indeed Acebedo-Garcia. Later, Deepak Paradkar, a lawyer seemingly linked to Wedding whose previous social media handle was “cocaine_lawyer,” allegedly told Wedding that if the informant was killed, the case against Wedding’s organization would crumble.
A Canadian blogger was also allegedly involved in the hunt for Acebedo-Garcia.
Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, left, was killed in Medellin, Colombia in January 2025 after working with the FBI to help bring down the violent drug-smuggling network allegedly led by fugitive Ryan Wedding. U.S. prosecutors allege Andrew Clark acted as Wedding’s top lieutenant. (Name withheld/U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California)Jan. 31, 2025: Acebedo-Garcia slain
Acebedo-Garcia was eating at a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, when a man snuck up behind him and shot him in the head multiple times.
March 6, 2025: Wedding lands on FBI’s most wanted list
Following the alleged murder of Acebedo-Garcia, law enforcement raised the stakes in the Wedding case. Earlier this year, Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, announced that Wedding was added to the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted fugitive list. Davis also announced a $10 million US reward for information that leads to Wedding’s capture — up from $50,000.
A recent image of fugitive Wedding, taken in 2024. (FBI)Nov. 19, 2025: Several involved in Acebedo-Garcia killing arrested
In yet another major development, U.S. officials announced earlier this month that 10 defendants were arrested — 11 total in custody — in relation to the Jan. 31 murder of Acebedo-Garcia. Paradkar and Ohna are included.
WATCH | Official likes Wedding to Escobar:
Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding compared to Pablo Escobar
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel describe the size and scope of former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding’s alleged drug trafficking empire.
Meanwhile, the reward for information leading to Wedding’s capture was increased to $15 million US.
This week the FBI seized an ultra-rare $13-million Mercedes linked to the drug kingpin.