The United States Department of Justice has escalated its international manhunt for Ryan James Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder now accused of leading one of the world's most powerful and violent drug cartels.
A Dramatic Press Conference
In a high-profile news conference held on November 19, 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi outlined shocking new developments in the case. The event also featured FBI Director Kash Patel and RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, highlighting the cross-border nature of the investigation.
Authorities announced a significant increase in the reward for information leading to Wedding's arrest, now set at $15 million, up from $10 million. This comes months after Wedding was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
The Allegations: From Olympian to Kingpin
Bondi described Wedding, who once resided in Montreal, as the leader of a sophisticated transnational criminal enterprise. "He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world," she stated, alleging he is currently the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada.
The scale of his operation is staggering. According to the FBI, Wedding's organization is responsible for importing approximately 60 metric tons of cocaine annually into Los Angeles alone, hidden in semi-trucks crossing from Mexico. To put this into perspective, that weight is equivalent to about 40 standard cars.
Bondi directly linked this drug flow to the overdose crisis, stating, "It's killing our kids, it's killing our friends, it's killing our relatives and (Wedding) is responsible for a tremendous amount of that horror."
Murder of a Witness and Coordinated Arrests
The case took a darker turn with allegations of witness intimidation and murder. Wedding is accused of orchestrating the killing of a federal witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, in Colombia earlier this year, before the witness could testify against him.
The method used to locate the witness was particularly brazen. Bondi alleged that Wedding used a Canadian website called the Dirty News to post photographs of Acebedo-Garcia and his wife. The website, which claimed to be a legitimate news outlet, has since been shut down and was allegedly funded by one of Wedding's co-conspirators.
This development triggered a wave of arrests on Tuesday, November 18th. In Quebec, authorities arrested a Montrealer, Edwin Basora Hernandez, 31, who has no criminal record in the province, and an alleged organized crime figure, Atna '2-Pac' Onha, 40, from the Montreal area. Both men are now detained awaiting extradition proceedings.
Simultaneously, a Canadian lawyer and a Latin pop star were arrested in the United States for their alleged roles in the conspiracy to murder the federal witness. The RCMP confirmed that seven of eight individuals sought in Canada as part of this investigation have now been apprehended.
"A Modern-Day Pablo Escobar"
FBI Director Kash Patel did not mince words when describing the threat posed by Wedding. "Make no mistake about it, Ryan Wedding is the modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar. He is the modern-day iteration of El Chapo Guzman," Patel declared.
He emphasized the global reach of Wedding's operation, stating, "This justice department and this FBI will work with our Canadian counterparts and government officials across the world to bring him to justice." Patel accused Wedding of engineering a "narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism program that we have not seen in a long time."
Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, reinforced the danger, describing Wedding as "extremely dangerous, extremely violent and extremely wealthy." Davis alleged that Wedding has "orchestrated murders against his rivals, against co-operating witnesses, against anybody that crosses his path."
The new indictment unsealed on Wednesday charges Wedding with a litany of offences, including witness tampering, intimidation, murder, money laundering, and drug trafficking. The RCMP and FBI continue their collaborative effort to locate the former Olympian, whose last known whereabouts remain a mystery years after he disappeared from Montreal following an initial RCMP drug smuggling investigation.
