In a major international law enforcement operation, seven Canadians connected to a former Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin have been arrested, authorities announced. The arrests target the network of Ryan Wedding, a 44-year-old who competed for Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and is now on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list.
From Olympic Glory to International Manhunt
Ryan Wedding, who took up snowboarding after his family moved from Ontario to Metro Vancouver, now faces serious charges in the United States, including drug trafficking and murder. He is believed to be hiding in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel. The U.S. State Department has significantly increased the reward for information leading to his capture, raising it to $15 million from $10 million.
At a press conference in Washington, FBI Director Kash Patel delivered a stark assessment of the threat Wedding poses, describing him as a "modern day iteration of Pablo Escobar." Patel stated that Wedding is accused of engineering a "narco-trafficking and narcoterrorism program that we have not seen in a long time."
Coordinated Arrests Across Canada
The seven individuals arrested in Canada on Tuesday are directly linked to Wedding's alleged cocaine smuggling operation, which is accused of shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of drugs from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada. Among those detained is Deepak Paradkar, Wedding's 62-year-old lawyer from Ontario.
The U.S. alleges that Paradkar advised his client to commit murder. "His lawyer told him, 'If you kill this witness, the case would be dismissed,'" said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. Tragically, that witness was shot five times in the head and killed in January 2025 at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia.
Another individual arrested was Gursewak Singh Bal, a 31-year-old from Ontario and founder of the website "The Dirty News." U.S. authorities claim Bal was paid to post a photograph of the slain witness on his website to facilitate the location and subsequent killing.
Operation Giant Slalom and Ongoing Threat
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) coordinated the Canadian arrests as part of "Operation Giant Slalom," a nod to Wedding's sporting past. RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme emphasized that despite these arrests, the fugitive remains a significant danger, stating, "Fugitive Ryan Wedding remains one of the top threats to Canadian public safety."
FBI agent Akil Davis reinforced this warning, noting that Wedding, who uses aliases like "El Jefe" and "Giant," is "extremely dangerous, extremely violent and he's extremely wealthy." In addition to the seven arrests in Canada, three other people connected to the January 2025 murder of the witness in Colombia were also taken into custody.
The case highlights a dramatic fall from grace for the former athlete and underscores the extensive, cross-border effort required to combat sophisticated international drug trafficking networks.
