A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder is wanted by authorities for allegedly running a major drug trafficking organization and organizing the killings of anyone deemed a threat.
Ryan Wedding, 43, who competed at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and finished 24th overall in the men's parallel giant slalom, is accused of running a billion-dollar operation out of Mexico for the past 13 years. 60 tons of cocaine a year. He is one of 16 people named in a federal indictment on charges that include drug counts, attempted crime and murder, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. ABC News.
Many of the other defendants have been arrested in recent weeks in California, Michigan, Florida, Canada, Colombia and Mexico, and many are expected to appear in court next week.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to the arrest of Wedding, who is considered an outlaw. He also uses a number of aliases, including “El Jefe”, “The Giant” and “The Public Enemy”.
At a press conference Thursday, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada called the so-called Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization “prolific and ruthless” and “transported literally tons of cocaine into the United States and Canada.” The group allegedly transported drug shipments via long-distance trucks from kitchens in Colombia to stash houses in Los Angeles, Estrada said. From there they would ship the cocaine primarily to Canada and the East Coast of the United States.
The indictment also accused the operation of employing contract killers to assassinate the victims, who were allegedly shot execution-style in front of the eyes of their loved ones. In one incident last year, two parents were shot to death in front of their daughter's eyes. It turned out that there was identity confusion in the incident. Her daughter was also shot several times but survived.
“They were murderers. They were violently targeting anyone they came across. Including murder,” Estrada said. he said.
Authorities have already seized more than a ton of cocaine in the investigation, as well as three firearms, dozens of bullets, $255,400 in U.S. currency and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency; The group is alleged to have laundered billions of dollars in earnings.
Wedding faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in federal prison if convicted of the murder, attempted murder or continuing criminal enterprise charges.