The FBI has released a newly obtained photograph of Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian fugitive on its Ten Most Wanted list.
Wedding, 44, is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California into Canada and other parts of the United States.
U.S. officials allege he also orchestrated multiple murders to protect his criminal enterprise.
The U.S. Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program is now offering up to $15 million for information leading to Wedding’s arrest or conviction.
“The photo is believed to have been taken of Wedding in Mexico during the summer of 2025,” the FBI stated.
The reward was increased in November, when U.S. authorities also announced additional incentives for information on assassins who murdered a potential witness in Medellín, Colombia, earlier this year.
From Olympian to alleged drug lord
Wedding represented Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. After his athletic career ended, investigators say he turned to organized crime, building a narcotics empire that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi described as “one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in this world.”
Bondi said Wedding’s operation generated more than $1 billion annually and trafficked an estimated 60 metric tons of cocaine each year.
“He is the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada,” she told reporters at a Nov. 19 press conference in Washington, D.C.
Authorities believe Wedding is currently living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel. Officials say he works closely with the cartel to funnel Colombian cocaine into North American markets, flooding communities in both Canada and the United States.
New indictments announced in November accuse Wedding of ordering the murder of a federal witness, who was shot five times in the head before he could testify against him. Among the seven people arrested in Canada was Wedding’s attorney, Deepak Paradkar, who allegedly advised him to have the witness killed.
The Department of Justice and the FBI are coordinating with the State and Treasury departments, as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), in their pursuit of Wedding.
The FBI is urging anyone with information about Wedding’s whereabouts to come forward.
