Olympian-turned-alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been hit with new criminal charges by the FBI after the reward for information leading to his arrest was bumped up to $15million.
The former snowboarder, who was added to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in March, is accused of leading a billion-dollar drug smuggling operation and orchestrating several murders.
He has been wanted by the FBI, who previously offered a $10m reward for his arrest before it was increased to $15m this week, since October 2024.
On Wednesday, US attorney general Pam Bondi announced new charges against Wedding, 43, for witness tampering and intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.
The press conference was held less than 24 hours after the case took a twist on Tuesday night, with Canadian police arresting a crime figure in connection with the assassination of a crucial witness.
That is according to La Presse, who revealed that 40-year-old Atna Onha – allegedly nicknamed Tupac – had been detained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the behest of the FBI.
Olympian-turned-alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been hit with new charges by the FBI
FBI boss Kash Patel (center) and US attorney general Pam Bondi (right) announced the charges
It comes 10 months after Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, 42, was murdered in broad daylight in the Colombian city of Medellin. He was reportedly set to be a key FBI witness in the case against Wedding.
Bondi, along with FBI director Kash Patel, held the press conference in the wake of Onha’s arrest. He is said to be the head of an organized crime group around Montreal and allegedly previously had links to both the Hells Angels and the Mafia.
Bondi and Patel also announced the arrest of GTA defense lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who is accused of advising Wedding to murder Acebedo-Garcia last year.
Wedding, who was labeled a ‘modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar’, is allegedly responsible for ‘engineering a narco trafficking and narco terrorism program that we have not seen in a long time,’ said Patel.
The former Olympics star ‘controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world,’ Bondi added.
Last September, Wedding was among 16 people charged as part of Operation Giant Slalom for, according to the indictment, ‘allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation’.
They are accused of ‘routinely shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States.’
Wedding and his supposed right-hand man, self-styled elevator mechanic Andrew Clark, are said to have ‘orchestrated multiple murders’ and ‘shown a callous disregard for human life’.
The former snowboarder is accused of running a billion-dollar cocaine smuggling operation
The initial wanted poster for Wedding, before the FBI increased their reward offer to $15m
Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (pictured)
In November 2023, they allegedly directed the killing of a couple from India in revenge for the theft of drugs. Their daughter, who survived despite being shot 13 times, recalled: ‘I heard my mother’s last screams. After that, there was complete silence. Only the noises of gunshots.’ Investigators believe it was a case of mistaken identity.
Last April, prosecutors claim, they were behind another murder. Clark is accused of sending a list of names to a hitman nicknamed ‘Mr Perfect’.
‘Blow this guy’s top off,’ was one alleged order. In return, the gunman was said to be offered $100,000, plus ‘expenses’. Before long, Randy Fader had been shot dead. The 29-year-old was allegedly first on the list of targets. Why? He was ‘the easiest one’.
In total, Wedding has been charged with eight felonies including three counts of murder and one count of attempt to commit murder.
He is said to have connections to the Hells Angels and to Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzman – once Mexico’s most powerful drug lords.