{"id":2512535,"date":"2025-11-19T18:49:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T23:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-canadian-olympic-snowboarder-turned-drug-lord-sanctioned-by-us\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T18:54:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T23:54:19","slug":"former-canadian-olympic-snowboarder-turned-drug-lord-sanctioned-by-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-canadian-olympic-snowboarder-turned-drug-lord-sanctioned-by-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder-turned-drug lord sanctioned by US"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-canadian-olympic-snowboarder-turned-drug-lord-sanctioned-by-us%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2512535&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Ryan Wedding is a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who has become one of the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-deports-former-drug-cartel-boss-to-mexico\/\" title=\"U.S. deports former drug cartel boss to ...\">notorious drug lords<\/a> in Mexico, now listed on the FBI&#8217;s Ten Most wanted fugitives. After competing in the 2002 Winter Olympics, Wedding shifted from sports to crime, initially running a marijuana farm before escalating to major cocaine trafficking. He was first arrested in 2008 in the U.S. and served four years in prison. Upon release, he moved to Mexico and significantly expanded his drug network, overseeing the transport of large quantities of cocaine into the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Wedding is described as an extremely violent criminal responsible for multiple murders, including those of U.S. citizens. He is supported by a network of associates, including a Canadian lawyer, his family members, a former Italian special forces soldier who trained his hitmen, and a former Mexican police officer who uses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/laptop-from-hell-author-says-fbi-and-director-wray-in-for-a-rude-wake-up-call-over-hunter-biden-investigation\/\" title=\"&quot;Laptop From Hell&quot; Author Says FBI and Director Wray in for a &quot;Rude Wake...Up Call&quot; Over Hunter Biden Investigation\">law enforcement contacts<\/a> to eliminate rivals. His criminal operation is compared to that of Pablo Escobar due to its scale and ruthlessness.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. authorities have sanctioned Wedding and his network, aiming to cut off their access to financial systems and dismantle their operations. Wedding currently faces numerous charges including drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder, witness tampering, and money laundering. Despite his long-term fugitive status and high bounty-recently raised to $15 million-law enforcement officials believe his arrest might potentially be imminent,even though his protection by the Sinaloa cartel remains a challenge.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Who is Ryan Wedding? Olympic snowboarder-turned-&lsquo;modern-day Pablo Escobar&rsquo; on FBI&rsquo;s Ten Most Wanted list<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2180177\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/canada\/\">Canadian<\/a> Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who has gained infamy as a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mexico\/\">Mexico<\/a>-based drug lord, was sanctioned by the United States on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Wedding goes by many nicknames, including &ldquo;El Jefe,&rdquo; &ldquo;Giant,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Public Enemy,&rdquo; as well as descriptors, such as a &ldquo;modern-day Pablo Escobar.&rdquo; His descent into crime came soon after he competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, beginning with a marijuana farm before escalating to cocaine. He was first arrested by the U.S. in a 2008 sting, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison. After leaving prison, he moved to Mexico and drastically up-scaled his enterprise with ruthless efficiency, growing it to a network capable of transporting 60 metric tons of cocaine into the U.S. and Canada across the southern border.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3891969\/james-boasberg-resumes-contempt-inquiry-trump-alien-enemies-act-deportation-case\/\">Boasberg resumes contempt inquiry in Trump Alien Enemies Act deportation case<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3891312\/redistricting-setbacks-in-court-slow-gop-map-push-ahead-of-2026\/\">Redistricting setbacks in court slow GOP map push ahead of 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3891437\/letitia-james-lisa-cook-mortgage-fraud-allegations\/\">Letitia James and Lisa Cook lawyer pushes back on mortgage fraud allegations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An image of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who is a fugitive charged with allegedly running and participating in a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >transnational drug trafficking operation<\/a>, is displayed on a video monitor along with bricks of cocaine during a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles on Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo\/Damian Dovarganes, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-who-is-ryan-wedding\">Who is Ryan Wedding? <\/h2>\n<p>Wedding&rsquo;s family, stable and well-off, expressed confusion about his sudden turn to crime in an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-features\/olympic-snowboarder-drug-dealer-cartel-ryan-wedding-1235218467\/\">interview<\/a> with a <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> reporter in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>The Olympian began snowboarding at age 12 and competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics at age 20. He was noted for his exceptional daring nature, often eschewing precautions.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He had no fear,&rdquo; former national champion ski racer Bobby Allison told the outlet in 2009. &ldquo;A lot of kids, they say they want to go fast, but they don&rsquo;t really want to go fast. They hold something back, because there&rsquo;s a little bit of fear there of falling. Ryan had none of that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, Wedding miscalculated and missed passing on to the second round by just one second. After the disappointment, he enrolled at Simon Fraser University, though he dropped out after two years in favor of his marijuana-growing venture.<\/p>\n<p>He showed little remorse after his 2008 arrest, and after being released, made contact with Jaochim &ldquo;El Chapo&rdquo; Guzman&rsquo;s growing operation in Canada. Despite his hulking 6-foot-3-inch stature, Wedding suddenly disappeared in the mid-2010s, under protection from the Sinaloa cartel. Officials have been unable to determine his exact whereabouts for around a decade and have only released two reliable photos of him since his release, both taken in 2024.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-he-accused-of\">What is he accused of?<\/h2>\n<p>A press release from the Treasury Department described Wedding as an &ldquo;extremely violent criminal believed to be responsible for the murder of numerous people abroad, including U.S. citizens.&rdquo; Also sanctioned were nine entities and nine close associates of Wedding. These include a Canadian lawyer, his wife, his girlfriend, a former Italian special forces soldier, and a former Mexican police officer known as &ldquo;the General,&rdquo; who uses his high-level law enforcement connections to track and murder Wedding&rsquo;s rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Gianluca Tiepolo, the former special forces soldier, allegedly founded the company Windrose Tactical Solutions S.R.L.S. to operate &ldquo;military-style tactical training camps that have trained many of Wedding&rsquo;s hitmen.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wedding&rsquo;s Canadian attorney, Deepak Balwant Paradkar, allegedly allowed the former Olympian to eavesdrop on private conversations with his other clients, often his rivals, to obtain information and organize hits.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Today we&rsquo;re exposing the network of associates and enablers behind Ryan Wedding &mdash; one of the most notorious criminals and narcotraffickers still evading justice,&rdquo; John Hurley, undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement. &ldquo;Treasury is joining with the FBI and the Department of Justice to cut Wedding and his criminal partners off from the U.S. financial system and help dismantle the network they rely on. Our goal is simple: make it difficult for criminals like this to profit from poisoning our communities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wedding has pursued violent means across the Western Hemisphere to crush his rivals and protect his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/whistleblowers-explain-how-smugglers-are-exploiting-californias-sanctuary-state-policy\/\" title=\"Whistleblowers Explain How Smugglers Are Exploiting California&#039;s Sanctuary State Policy\">billion-dollar enterprise<\/a>, personally ordering dozens of hits across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. In one Ontario hit, Wedding&rsquo;s gunmen misidentified their target, instead murdering an innocent couple.<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury noted that Wedding &ldquo;employs highly sophisticated methods in both the planning and execution of these killings, demonstrating a level of coordination and ruthlessness that has made him one of the world&rsquo;s most dangerous fugitives.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>His second-in-command, fellow Canadian Andrew Clark, was arrested in Mexico in October 2024 before being <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/co-leader-transnational-drug-trafficking-organization-arrives-us-face-federal\">extradited <\/a>to the U.S. in February.<\/p>\n<p>Wedding currently leads the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/wanted\/topten\">FBI&rsquo;s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives<\/a> list with the highest number of charges, including conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine; conspiracy to export cocaine; conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime and murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime; conspiracy to tamper with a witness, victim, or informant, and tampering with a witness, victim, or informant; conspiracy to retaliate against a witness, victim, or informant and retaliation against a witness, victim, or informant; and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-close-is-law-enforcement-to-catching-him\">How close is law enforcement to catching him?<\/h2>\n<p>The Treasury also said the U.S. Attorney&rsquo;s Office for the Central District of California would level additional charges against Wedding and his network. The new sanctions were coordinated with the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera, Mexico&rsquo;s financial intelligence unit. The State Department approved raising his bounty from $10 million to up to $15 million.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities are largely mum about the state of the investigation. However, one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-to-begin-removing-all-senate-confirmed-u-s-attorneys-appointed-under-trump\/\" title=\"Biden Administration To Begin Removing All Senate Confirmed U.S. Attorneys Appointed Under Trump\">law enforcement official familiar<\/a> with the matter told the outlet in January that he believes Wedding&rsquo;s arrest is close.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3890548\/claudia-sheinbaum-rejects-us-striking-drug-cartels\/\">MEXICAN PRESIDENT REJECTS US STRIKING DRUG CARTELS DESPITE RIOTS OVER VIOLENT CRIME<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;His transportation network has been disrupted, but if he can get it up and running, the Sinaloa cartel will continue to protect him,&rdquo; the official said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He was a big earner, and as long as he can keep paying a tax, he&rsquo;ll be protected&rdquo; by the Sinaloa cartel, they added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ryan Wedding: Olympian turned drug lord on FBI&#8217;s Most Wanted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2512536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP25066138841944.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[67379,36508,38329,60694,36614],"class_list":["post-2512535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-canadian-olympic-snowboarder","tag-crime-news","tag-drug-lord","tag-former-athlete","tag-us-sanctions"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP25066138841944.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2512535"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2512539,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512535\/revisions\/2512539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2512536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2512535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2512535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2512535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}