Once an Olympic-level snowboarder, Ryan Wedding is no longer remembered for his feats on the slopes. Rather, his name now appears on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, charged with several dr-g related cases.

“Make no mistake about it: Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar. He’s a modern-day iteration of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” FBI Director Kash Patel said back in November in a brief. Referred to as a notorious dr-g lord, Wedding is wanted across North America for his alleged role in trafficking and smuggling c-caine throughout the region. Despite extensive efforts by authorities to apprehend him, his whereabouts remain unknown.

Believed to be hiding somewhere in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, Wedding is now the target of an international manhunt led by the U.S. government. A $15 million reward has been issued for his capture in connection with allegations of large-scale c-caine distribution, money laundering, and multiple homicides, including the recent m-rder of a witness set to testify against him.

Operation Giant Slalom is the name of the offensive action being undertaken against him. Popularly known as “El Jefe” and “Giant” in the underworld, Wedding, now 44, has been named in multiple incidents involving deaths and large-scale damage in Canada and abroad. Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division, believes that “Wedding’s criminal network remains one of the most organized.”

After his snowboarding career ended after a disappointing 24th-place finish at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the former athlete enrolled at Simon Fraser University and moved to Vancouver.

Following that, he worked as a bouncer at a local club, the point where he began dr-g trafficking. During the 2008 global financial crisis, Wedding was arrested alongside two associates, all accused of conspiring to possess a massive quantity of c-caine for distribution.

The arrest came after Wedding and his associates traveled from Canada to San Diego, California, to buy c-caine as part of a dr-g trafficking organization based in Vancouver.

As mentioned in the affidavit, the entire operation was actually a sting, and thus the FBI agents arrested the trio after the deal was done. Investigators allegedly found $100,000 in cash in their hotel room. The two associates pleaded guilty as per court records, but the case stretched till November 2009, and in 2019, he was sentenced to four years in prison.

In 2024, federal prosecutors again charged Wedding with running a criminal enterprise tied to c-caine trafficking and multiple m-rders, operating across North America and extending into Colombia, once the stronghold of the Medellín Cartel. The indictment expressed that the enterprise began back in 2011 when Ryan Wedding was released from prison and has been carrying on operations.

What’s the update on Ryan Wedding?

Back in January this year, a federal witness against Ryan Wedding was shot dead in a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia. This was the trigger for the US government to take serious measures to apprehend him.

In March 2025, the FBI took preventive measures and added his name to the list of the Most Wanted list and announced that the US State Department would offer a hefty $10 million for his head.

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Soon after, the FBI released a wanted flyer featuring multiple photos of the wedding for a manhunt, but again, there was little success. Last month U.S officials announced the arrests of seven people connected to Wedding, one of them being Wedding’s own attorney, who has a connection to the killing of a federal witness.

Following that, authorities announced a further increase in the reward for Wedding’s capture to $15 million.

At a media briefing, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding has been trafficking 60 metric tons of c-caine per year. “The largest distributor of cocaine in Canada,” she said. An FBI spokesperson in a further media briefing expressed that they have received good tips on him after the reward was raised, and further operations are going on across the continent to nab him.