ONTARIO, CANADA — Ryan James Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, is on the run after being named a wanted suspect in a double homicide in Ontario last year.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, along with Andrew Clark, allegedly conducted the murders of two family members in Caledon on November 20, 2023, as retaliation for a stolen drug shipment.
Wedding, 43, and Clark, who both reside in Mexico, are part of a larger group of 16 defendants identified in a recent indictment that reveals a transnational drug trafficking operation, according to reports.
Ryan James Wedding FBI Wanted Poster
(Credit: fbi.gov)
Federal prosecutors say Wedding traded his snowboarding career for a life of crime, becoming a significant player in a drug ring known as “The Wedding Criminal Enterprise.”
“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and a killer,” said Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.
Reports state the indictment charges Wedding with conspiracy to export cocaine, running a continuing criminal enterprise, and three counts of murder. Prosecutors claim the operation moved around 60 tons of cocaine each year, raking in billions of dollars.
While Mexican authorities arrested Clark on October 8, “Ryan Wedding is still at large,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Krysti Hawkins.
The organization allegedly shipped cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and into Southern California before distributing it throughout Canada and the U.S.
The double homicide case involved the Sidhu family. Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu survived being shot 13 times, but her parents, Jagtar Singh Sidhu and Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu did not. Authorities believe the family was mistakenly targeted in a case of mistaken identity linked to the drug conflict.
The investigation has already led to the arrests of 12 individuals across the U.S., Canada, Colombia, and Mexico.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information that could help capture Wedding.
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