Former 2002 Salt Lake City Olympian put on FBI’s ’10 Most Wanted’ list; $10M reward offered

An image of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who is a fugitive and been charged with allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation, is displayed on a video monitor along with bricks of cocaine, foreground, during a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles, Oct. 17, 2024. | Damian Dovarganes, AP File Photo SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — An Olympic snowboarder who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was moved up to the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list on Thursday. The U.S. State Department is now offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Ryan Wedding — also known as “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” or “Jesse King” — is wanted for allegedly operating a transnational drug trafficking network that regularly smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The FBI said he has also orchestrated the deaths of several people, calling him “a very dangerous man.” “Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. Davis said federal authorities bumped Wedding into the 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list and added $10 million to the existing $50,000 reward to encourage the public to help in the search efforts. “(This) will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger,” Davis said. The $10 million authorized by the U.S. State Department is in addition to the FBI’s current $50,000 reward and is a joint offer between the U.S., Canadian, and Mexican governments “as part of a unified effort to bring Wedding to justice.” “The reward offered today will help bring this defendant to justice in the United States. We urge anyone with information about Wedding to contact law enforcement and help us get Mr. Wedding into custody,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. Authorities say Wedding, and his second-in-command Andrew Clark, ordered the deaths of two members of a Canadian family for a stolen drug shipment and another victim over a drug debt. Clark was arrested in 2024 by Mexican authorities and extradited to the United States. According to the Olympics’ website, Wedding placed 24th in snowboarding in the 2002 Winter Olympics. The site said he was convicted in 2010 of attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. agent and sentenced to four years in prison. “The former Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of death and destruction, here and abroad,” said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division. “Today’s announcement beams an even brighter searchlight on him. We ask that you help us find him.” Anyone who has information can contact their local FBI office or submit a tip online. To communicate with the FBI through a non-government-operated platform, message or call +1-424 495-0614 on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram.The post Former 2002 Salt Lake City Olympian put on FBI’s ’10 Most Wanted’ list; $10M reward offered appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com