The US Department of State has announced a reward for up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of former Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding, 44 and of Canada. Wedding is believed to be residing in Mexico.

Following Wedding’s snowboarding career, the agency reports that he “turned to a life of crime as a transnational narcotics trafficker.”

Going by nicknames of El Jefe and El Toro, among others, Wedding is said to have headed a complex crime organization that was involved with the coordination of procurement and transportation of cocaine from South America to Canada. Following an investigation that spanned the United States and Canada, Wedding was charged as a co-conspirator in California for alleged involvement in criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine. The murder charges were related to drug-related killings of two in Ontario in 2023, as well as allegedly ordering the murder of another Canadian over drug debt.

Wedding’s alleged role in the aforementioned crimes has also landed him on the FBI’s ’10 Most Wanted Fugitives’ list, as of March 6.

Anyone with information related to the case can contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 424-495-0614. Those outside of the United States should contact the nearest US Embassy or Consulate.

In terms of his snowboarding career, Wedding participated in the giant slalom snowboarding event for Team Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He finished 24th overall.

Four years later, he was named in a search warrant out of British Columbia related to an investigation of a large marijuana grow, but was never charged, according to The Olympics. He was, however, convicted in 2010 for attempting to buy cocaine from a US government agent in 2008, sentenced to four years in prison.

Find the full press release related to Wedding from the US Department of State here.

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