FBI Zeroes In on Central Mexico in Hunt for Canadian Former Olympian Ryan Wedding

Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding is shown in this undated FBI handout photo. FBI handout photo

The FBI is now focusing its efforts on central Mexico in its search for former Canadian Olympian-turned-fugitive Ryan Wedding.

The FBI has accused Wedding of heading a transnational drug trafficking operation and arranging multiple murders, and has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to US$10 million for information leading to Wedding’s capture.

“The FBI believes Wedding is in Mexico and under cartel protection,” FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller said in an Aug. 8 email to the Epoch Times.

Eimiller said it’s believed that individuals in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital, Mexico City, have information on Wedding’s whereabouts. The FBI has launched a social media campaign targeting the area in an effort to elicit tips.

“We wouldn’t rule out that a fugitive could be in another country, particularly someone like Wedding with financial means, but our publicity efforts are focused in Mexico at this time,” Eimiller added.

Wedding, 43, was added to the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list in March, with the RCMP describing him as “one of the largest organized crime threats to Canada, even as a fugitive.” The RCMP has said it is working with its counterparts in the United States and Mexico counterparts in the search for Wedding.

The Thunder Bay-born former Olympic snowboarder and another Canadian, Andrew Clark, were previously charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and drug trafficking. They have been accused of orchestrating at least four murders in Ontario, including the shooting death of a couple visiting from India believed to be a case of mistaken identity.

Clark was arrested in Mexico last October by Mexican law enforcement. The formal criminal charges issued by a grand jury named Clark, Wedding, and 14 other co-conspirators in the case, of whom only Wedding and one other co-conspirator currently remain at large.

Clark was extradited to the United States in February of this year along with dozens of individuals with alleged cartel links. Clark faces 16 counts related to drug trafficking and murder and is currently being held in U.S. federal custody awaiting further court proceedings.

According to the FBI, Wedding was in charge of “routinely” shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to the United States and Canada via Mexico and southern California, with Los Angeles FBI field office assistant director Akil Davis saying Wedding is “a very dangerous man.” The FBI says Wedding’s criminal network used long haul semi-trucks to bring the drugs into Canada.

Mexican, American, and Canadian authorities are all collaborating to catch Wedding, including the involvement of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Matthew Allen, a DEA special agent in charge at the Los Angeles Field Division said in October 2024 that Wedding’s criminal network is guilty of “unremitting, callous and greed-driven crimes” and “have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders.”

Wedding is described as 6-feet, three-inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and possible facial hair. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI.

If found guilty and convicted of drug and murder charges in the U.S., Wedding faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.

Wedding competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Olympic Games. He has been wanted by the RCMP for a decade.