The FBI lists Ryan Wedding as its top ten most wanted criminals. The investigators describe the former Olympic starter as a “modern version” of Pablo Escobar and are on his trail. This results in amazing discoveries.
His feeling for snow brought the Canadian Ryan Wedding first to the sporting Olympus and then to the hell of the Latin American drug cartels. But the white powder doesn’t fall from the sky there. Cocaine is produced in laboratories as a stimulant drug. Former Olympic star Ryan Wedding is said to have smuggled more than 60 tons of cocaine into the USA and Canada. Now the FBI is hunting the suspected drug lord.
In the sunny US state of California, Wedding’s criminal empire began to crumble when a cocaine shipment was intercepted by drug investigators in April 2024. At that time, the organization of the 44-year-old, who was described by FBI Director Kash Patel as a “modern version” of the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar († 44), was said to have generated annual sales of around one billion dollars.
The drug investigators had no idea that Ryan Wedding was a big fish in organized crime. The FBI is “only” offering a bounty of $50,000 for his capture.
An informant is shot – and Ryan Wedding ends up on the FBI list
Six months later, an FBI informant identified the former top athlete as “El Jefe,” “the boss” of the drug cartel. In a tapped conversation with his lawyer, he advises Ryan Wedding: “If you kill this witness, the case will be stopped.”
Shortly afterwards, the FBI informant is shot dead by a hitman in a restaurant in Colombia. And Wedding ends up on the FBI’s list of most wanted criminals. A bounty of 15 million dollars (around 13 million euros) is now being offered for his capture.
In order to avoid being discovered, Wedding is said to have possibly undergone facial surgery. One trail leads to Mexico. Wedding is said to be hiding there with members of the feared Sinaloa drug cartel.
The investigators are still on the trail of the fugitive drug lord. Shortly before the turn of the year, investigators discovered, among other things, 62 rare racing motorcycles during a raid on several Mexican properties.
The rarities collection includes machines from different eras of Grand Prix and Superbike racing. In Los Angeles, the FBI also confiscated one of only six Mercedes CLK GTR Roadsters built. The road version of the Mercedes CLK GTR was the most expensive new car in the world at the end of the 1990s. Current value: around eleven million euros.
In addition to the vehicles, investigators found several works of art and two Olympic medals. It was not immediately clear who the medals belong to. At least the former snowboarder didn’t win it: When he competed at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, Wedding only came 24th in the parallel giant slalom.
