A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, Ryan James Wedding, and 15 other defendants have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment for allegedly running and participating in a transnational cocaine trafficking operation tied to multiple murders spanning from Colombia through Mexico and the United States to Canada.
Wedding, 43, and Andrew Clark, 34, both Canadian citizens residing in Mexico, allegedly led a drug trafficking organization that transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine through Southern California and all the way to Canada.
The first superseding indictment, unsealed Thursday, names 14 additional co-defendants. It reveals that Wedding, Clark, and others conspired to ship bulk quantities of cocaine from Southern California to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network between January 2024 and August 2024.
The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where operatives would store the drugs in stash houses before loading them onto long-haul trucks that would take the drugs to Canada.
The indictment also accuses Wedding and Clark of orchestrating multiple murders, including the November 2023 killings of two family members in Ontario over a stolen drug shipment, and a May 2024 murder over a drug debt.
The Canadian nationals were previously charged in the original indictment with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine.
Clark was arrested Oct. 8 by Mexican law enforcement and is currently detained.
Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, remains a fugitive and faces eight felony charges, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and multiple murder counts.
The FBI, DEA, Los Angeles Police Department, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police led the investigation, seizing over a ton of cocaine, firearms, and millions in cryptocurrency. Law enforcement from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia collaborated on this case.
Several defendants arrested are expected to make court appearances within the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan, and Miami.
If convicted, Wedding and Clark face mandatory life sentences on the murder charges, with additional mandatory minimums on other charges.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Wedding's arrest.
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