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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel outlined their case on Wednesday against Ryan Wedding, a former Team Canada Olympian who they say became one of the most powerful drug lords in the world.
Bondi and Patel held a news conference in Washington, D.C., alongside RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme.
Wedding, an alleged Canadian drug lord who competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Olympic Games in Utah, is listed as one of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives.
Bondi said the U.S. Department of Justice is charging Wedding with "two additional counts of witness tampering and intimidation, money laundering and drug trafficking."
"He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world," Bondi said.
Wedding is accused of orchestrating the murder of a federal witness through the use of a now-deleted website called "The Dirty News," where photographs of the witness and his wife were displayed to locate him, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
The witness, whom Radio-Canada sources identified as Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, was gunned down in a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, before he could testify against Wedding.
The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to $15 million US for Wedding's capture, up from $10 million.
'Modern-day' Pablo EscobarWedding is responsible for importing 60 metric tonnes a year into Los Angeles via semi-trailer trucks from Mexico, Bondi said.
She added that over the course of the investigation, more than 35 people have been indicted.
Ryan Wedding has been on the run for over a decade while allegedly running a murderous and transnational drug-smuggling empire. (FBI)More than 2,000 kilograms of cocaine, numerous weapons, about $3.2 million in cryptocurrency and $13 million in physical assets were recovered.
FBI director Kash Patel likened Wedding to a “modern-day iteration” of Pablo Escobar and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and implored citizens to report information they may have on the accused.
WATCH | U.S. officials, RCMP say Canadians among those arrested in investigation:RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme, appearing alongside U.S. law enforcement in Washington on Wednesday, took a question about the arrest of people in Canada with alleged ties to Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder wanted in the U.S. on allegations of murder and drug trafficking.Patel said Wedding is responsible for “engineering a narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism program that we have not seen in a long time.”
He added that the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI will “lead the effort to go out there and make sure that these animals are brought to justice.”
Wedding stands six feet, four inches tall and weighs about 230 to 250 pounds. He may change his appearance to avoid custody, warned Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles division.
“Someone like Ryan Wedding is going to stick out in Mexico, and that is why we’re soliciting the public’s help to try and identify and locate him and arrest him," Davis said.
At the news conference, RCMP Commissioner Duheme said there had been good co-operation between law enforcement across borders but added, "our work is not done."
7 Canadians arrestedDuheme said that on Tuesday morning, RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police arrested seven Canadians with ties to Wedding's alleged organized crime group.
“Fugitive Ryan Wedding remains one of the top threats to Canadian public safety and, as per the previous indictment, continues to run an over a billion-dollar-a-year criminal enterprise,” Duheme said.
The FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitive poster during a news conference announcing a law enforcement action at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, 2025. (Tom Brenner/REUTERS)Among those arrested was Atna Onha, a 40-year-old man from Laval, Que., who goes by the name Tupac or 2-Pac. He appeared by videoconference in Montreal on Tuesday.
He is facing murder and cocaine trafficking-related charges, as well as extradition to the U.S. The details were not made public.
According to the indictment, Onha was a member and associate of the alleged Wedding criminal enterprise. He allegedly served as a hired hitman who facilitated the murder of Acebedo-Garcia, who owned a home in Terrebonne, Que., according to property records.
WATCH | Here's what we know about the Quebecers tied to the case:In an effort to investigate and dismantle a drug trafficking operation allegedly run by former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding, who the FBI describes as a modern-day Pablo Escobar, U.S. authorities along with the RCMP have arrested dozens, including seven Canadians. Wedding is still at large.Edwin Basora-Hernandez, 31, a Dominican citizen residing in Montreal, was also arrested on Tuesday.
He allegedly provided contact information to Montrealer Tommy Demorizi to help locate Acebedo-Garcia for the murder that Ohna allegedly committed. Demorizi remains a fugitive.
Canadian lawyer Deepak Paradkar was also among those arrested. He allegedly advised Wedding to order Acebedo-Garcia's murder. The aim was to have Wedding avoid extradition from Mexico on criminal charges related to his alleged criminal organization, according to the same unsealed indictment.