U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday, November 19, that Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged international drug kingpin, has been charged with masterminding the murder of a federal witness in Colombia.
The murder was planned to prevent his extradition to the United States.
Wedding, 44, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Games is accused of running a transnational network that moves around 60 tonnes of cocaine per year.
Now, he is faced with charges including witness tampering and murder for the January 2025 shooting of a witness who was shot five times in the head at a Medellin restaurant.
Authorities claim that Wedding placed a $5 million bounty on the victim and used a Canadian crime news website, The Dirty News, to publish the witness’s photograph and location.
The website has since been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Deepal Paradkar, an eminent Ontario defence lawyer, was among 15 people charged in a newly unsealed indictment.
Paradkar is accused of helping by advising Wedding on the murder to avoid extradition and of providing confidential court documents.
He was arrested Tuesday, November 18, in Canada.
The FBI has increased its reward for Wedding to $15 million, listing him among its Ten Most Wanted.
He is believed to be hiding in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
Bondi stated, “Whether you are a street-level drug dealer or an international drug kingpin, we are coming for you. We will find you and you will be accountable.”