The FBI has unveiled a newly acquired image of Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian criminal on the agency’s Ten Most Wanted list.
Wedding, 44, stands accused of masterminding a massive drug trafficking operation that transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and into Canada and various parts of the United States.
U.S. officials allege that Wedding is responsible for multiple murders carried out to safeguard his criminal enterprise.
The U.S. Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for any information leading to Wedding’s arrest or conviction.
According to the FBI, the photograph is believed to have been taken of Wedding in Mexico during the summer of 2025.
In November, the reward was increased, and additional incentives were announced for information on the assassins involved in the murder of a potential witness in Medellín, Colombia, earlier this year.
Ryan James Wedding, the Canadian snowboarding athlete who represented his country at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, has since transitioned into organized crime. Investigators claim that he has built a narcotics empire described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as “one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in the world.”
Wedding’s operation is estimated to have generated over $1 billion annually and trafficked around 60 metric tons of cocaine each year.
During a press conference in Washington, D.C., Bondi stated, “He is the primary distributor of cocaine in Canada.”
Authorities suspect that Wedding is currently residing in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel. They believe he collaborates closely with the cartel to smuggle Colombian cocaine into markets in both Canada and the United States.
Recent indictments in November have accused Wedding of orchestrating the murder of a federal witness who was shot five times in the head before being able to testify against him. Among the individuals arrested in Canada was Wedding’s attorney, Deepak Paradkar, who allegedly advised him to eliminate the witness.
The Department of Justice and the FBI are working in tandem with the State and Treasury departments, as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), in their pursuit of Wedding.
The FBI is appealing to the public for any information regarding Wedding’s current location.
