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Jade Lacroix
Published on Oct 18, 2024 at 4:07 p.m.
The FBI issued a wanted notice this Thursday, October 17, 2024 against Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic athlete, snowboard expert.
He is now accused of being part of a major drug cartel and to have ordered several murders.
$50,000 reward for information
The FBI published its wanted notice on his X account this Thursday.
A $50,000 rewardor 46,000 euros, is offered for any information leading to his capture.
Ryan Wedding, 43, participated in the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in the United States in 2002. He now lives in Mexico where he is nicknamed “El Jefe”, “The Giant”, “The Public Enemy”.
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In this case soberly called “giant slalom”, 16 people, including Ryan Wedding, are accused of having imported “tons” of cocaine between Mexico and North America, as explained by California prosecutor Martin Estrada, on ABC News.
60 tons of cocaine per year
According to the prosecutor, the cartel to which Ryan Wedding belongs would have imported nearly 60 tonnes of white powder per year.
From Colombia, the criminal organization exported the drugs to homes in Los Angeles. The shipments were then sent mostly to Canada, but also to the east coast of the United States.
The billions of dollars generated were subsequently converted into cryptocurrency. Part of it was also laundered in the United States, between April and September.
As part of their investigation, law enforcement seized more than a ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in cash and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.
Four victims of the cartel
The ex-athlete is accused of having hired hitmen to assassinate people hindering its activity.
In 2023, a father and mother were wrongly murdered in front of their daughter. The girl was also shot several times, but she managed to survive. Another victim was killed in May over a drug debt, and a fourth was murdered in April.
If Ryan Wedding is convicted of murder and attempted murder, he could face a life sentence.
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