The reward for the capture of ex-Olympian and alleged Canadian drug lord Ryan Wedding has increased to $15 million after he allegedly ordered a hit on a witness set to testify against him.
Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, landed on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list for allegedly ordering dozens of murders across the globe, including in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unveiled a new indictment against him Wednesday, accusing him of new murder, witness tampering and intimidation, money laundering, and drug trafficking charges.
Ten other defendants have been arrested on charges in the federal indictment that accuses Wedding of orchestrating the January killing of a witness in Colombia to help Wedding avoid extradition to the U.S.
He’s believed to be hiding out in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel and uses “highly sophisticated methods” in the planning and execution of killings, according to the Department of Justice.
The federal agency said the level of coordination and ruthlessness has made him one of the world’s most dangerous fugitives.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Wednesday that it sanctioned Wedding and nine people and entities closely associated with him.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California also issued indictments against Wedding’s alleged accomplices.
“Today we’re exposing the network of associates and enablers behind Ryan Wedding — one of the most notorious criminals and narcotraffickers still evading justice,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley.
“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.”
Wedding — whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad King” — was charged in 2024 with running a drug ring that moves some 60 tons of cocaine a year using long-haul semi trucks to bring the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada.
Authorities say Wedding and his co-conspirators used a Canadian website called “the Dirty News” to post a photograph of a witness so he could be identified and killed. The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medellín in January and shot in the head.
“Wedding placed the bounty on the victim’s head, and the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him and his international drug trafficking ring, and would further ensure that he was not extradited to the United States. He was wrong.” said Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor for the Central District of California.
Among those accused of helping him in his crimes is his wife, Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno. She allegedly launders drug proceeds for Wedding and has helped him carry out violence.
Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, known as “the General,” provides protection for Wedding in Mexico and uses law enforcement sources to locate targets for Wedding, according to the DOJ.
Another notable suspect is Wedding’s lawyer, Deepak Balwant Paradkar, who authorities accuse of introducing him to drug traffickers who moved his drugs and “helped Wedding with bribery and murder.”
“We are coming for you. We will find you. And you will be accountable and held to justice for your crimes,” Bondi said.
