10 ways ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding has evaded arrest for 10 years

Once a Team Canada Olympic snowboarder, Ryan James Wedding has spent much than 10 years connected the tally from authorities, portion allegedly starring a murderous, transnational drug-smuggling empire. 

Listed arsenic 1 of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives since March, the U.S. State Department is offering a $10-million US reward for accusation starring to his arrest. 

So, however has Wedding, 43, evaded seizure for truthful long?

CBC News has spoken with existent and erstwhile investigators and reviewed tribunal files and nationalist statements by authorities. What emerges is simply a multi-faceted strategy involving technology, wealth and high-level connections that appears to person allowed Wedding to consistently stay 1 measurement up of U.S. and Canadian authorities.

Who is Ryan Wedding?

Born into a skiing household successful Thunder Bay, Ont., Wedding aboriginal moved to Coquitlam, B.C., and appeared destined for a promising vocation successful snowboarding, reaching the 2002 Olympic Games successful Utah.

But helium soon embarked connected a overmuch antithetic vocation path.

Arrested successful a sting cognition aft helium flew to California to bargain cocaine successful June 2008, Wedding spent much than 3 years successful U.S. prisons.

Sometime aft his release, helium moved to Montreal, wherever helium was charged by the RCMP successful April 2015 arsenic portion of a large-scale cognition targeting cocaine imports to Canada. 

On the tally since then, authorities accidental helium relocated to Mexico and present sends wide shipments of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine crossed North America.

1. Cartel connections

Wedding's biggest plus whitethorn beryllium his connections to Mexico's merciless cause cartels, which the U.S. and Canada see violent organizations.

According to the FBI, Wedding whitethorn beryllium surviving nether the extortion of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, erstwhile led by cause lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

"Wedding, who is wealthy, is unsafe and has connections successful precise precocious places," said Akil Davis, the adjunct manager successful complaint of the FBI's Los Angeles tract office. 

The Sinaloa cartel dominates ample swaths of bluish and confederate Mexico, and has a beingness successful astir each different portion of the country, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

However, the radical has been beset by deadly infighting implicit the past year, with the cartel divided into 2 main, warring factions: Los Chapitos and La Mayiza.

The RCMP declined to accidental whether Wedding is aligned with either branch.

"We person a beauteous beardown consciousness of his linkages wrong transnational organized crime," said the RCMP's manager wide of planetary peculiar services, Liam Price. "I wouldn't privation to speech publically astir it, lest it amusement what we know, and however we cognize it."

Wedding whitethorn besides payment from ties with the Sinaloa cartel's main competitor, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known by its Spanish initials, CJNG.

Fellow Canadian Andrew Clark — described by U.S. prosecutors arsenic Wedding's second-in-command — was arrested past twelvemonth successful Mexico's Jalisco state. Mexican authorities said Clark acted arsenic a liaison, moving with some CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel.

2. Getting tipped off

Mexican cartels person been known to usage currency and the menace of unit to power authorities officials. El Chapo's idiosyncratic adjutant even claimed the ex-kingpin erstwhile bribed Mexico's then-president Enrique Peña Nieto to telephone disconnected a manhunt. 

Wedding whitethorn beryllium utilizing the aforesaid playbook.

"Any clip that we've gotten close, helium tin trust connected those radical watching retired for him, to alert him successful advance," F. Cartwright Weiland, a elder U.S. State Department authoritative told CBC News.

Weiland, who leads the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, precocious called connected Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to personally intervene and guarantee Wedding's arrest. 

It's unclear whether authorities person learned of Wedding's nonstop whereabouts since helium was spotted by the FBI successful Mexico City successful 2024.

"We're getting closer," Weiland said. "But I deliberation the communicative frankincense acold has been 1 successful which those 2 facets of nine — the cartels and authorities officials — are moving successful tandem, to let for him to evade capture."

3. Global allies

Prosecutors person besides acknowledged helium could beryllium astir anyplace beyond Mexico.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, investigators "have not ruled retired his beingness successful the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, oregon elsewhere."

What's more, the Mounties person said Wedding's web shipped drugs not lone crossed North America, but "overseas" arsenic well, raising the imaginable helium whitethorn person allies adjacent farther afield.

Indeed, tribunal filings by U.S. prosecutors suggest 1 of Wedding's co-defendants, chap Canadian Gurpreet Singh, has connections successful Dubai, including to members of the Kinahan gang.

A notorious cause cartel founded by Irishman Christy Kinahan successful the 1990s, U.S. prosecutors picture it arsenic "a well-known, convulsive organized transgression radical operating passim the world."

4. Fear and violence

Witnesses would beryllium forgiven for reasoning doubly earlier speaking to authorities.

Prosecutors person described Wedding's web arsenic hellbent connected eliminating enemies would-be informants — adjacent targeting the families of perceived rivals.

Indeed, the Toronto Star reported that U.S. prosecutors' cardinal witnesser — a Canadian-Colombian longtime Wedding subordinate — was gunned down successful wide daylight successful Medellín, Colombia, connected Jan. 31.

Likewise, an indictment unsealed past twelvemonth successful California outlines however Wedding allegedly ordered co-defendant Nahim Jorge Bonilla to repay a cocaine debt, oregon other his parent would beryllium killed.

Investigators person publically linked the web to 4 murders successful Ontario, including the mistaken-identity shootings of a couple visiting from India. Authorities person besides suggested the radical ordered aggregate different killings.

"All of these victims were intentionally changeable execution-style, truthful that their loved ones could spot them murdered," erstwhile U.S. lawyer Martin Estrada said.

According to tribunal documents, Wedding's apical lieutenant, Clark, provided a Toronto-based hitman past twelvemonth with a motley database of targets, including a Niagara Falls, Ont., cause trafficker, "a realtor successful Van," "some Arabs" and "'a Mexi' who owned a edifice and his wife."

What's more, prosecutors warned Wedding apt inactive has entree to a "network of hitmen" portion connected the run. 

5. Insulated by accomplices

A national expansive assemblage indictment unsealed successful Los Angeles past twelvemonth describes the interior workings of a sprawling transgression cognition involving Wedding, Clark and 14 different co-defendants, including cause smugglers and the alleged declaration slayer known arsenic "Mr. Perfect."

Estrada said the web would root their merchandise from "cocaine kitchens" successful Colombia, past determination the drugs to Southern California stash houses, via Mexico. Big rig drivers would past present the cocaine — an estimated 60 tonnes a twelvemonth — to U.S. and Canadian cities.

Wedding "tried to insulate himself from a batch of this transgression activity," Estrada said astatine a quality league past year. "It took a large woody of investigative effort to really hint each of these acts to him personally."

If Wedding is ever arrested, helium faces 8 felony charges successful California, including murder, starring a continuing transgression endeavor and conspiracy to export cocaine.

WATCH | FBI discusses hunt for Wedding: 

6. Money laundering and cryptocurrency

Wedding's network, said to person made $1 cardinal US a year, allegedly hides its wealth by utilizing aggregate cryptocurrency wallets, making it harder to follow.

While the U.S. Attorney's Office said past autumn that investigators had seized cocaine with a thoroughfare worth of astir $25 cardinal US, positive $255,400 US successful cash, those amounts whitethorn lone beryllium a tiny fraction of the profits Wedding and his associates were pocketing.

"Just connected 1 day, we were capable to spot 1 of those crypto wallets and it contained $3 cardinal [US]," Estrada said. "And that's conscionable 1 of the wallets."

He says investigators established that the Wedding enactment laundered $250 cardinal US done cryptocurrency betwixt April and September 2024 alone.

Of that amount, authorities lone managed to prehend astir $3.2 million.

Prior to his archetypal apprehension successful 2008, Wedding had utilized the "cultural" money-laundering web of an Iranian-Canadian co-defendant to determination $100,000 for a cocaine purchase, according to grounds astatine trial.

"Obviously," Wedding said of the cause wealth connected an FBI recording, "I didn't enactment it successful my f-cking suitcase."

7. Aliases

The U.S. indictment unsealed past October lists nary less than 18 aliases for the six-foot, three-inch Wedding, including Giant, Grande, Buddy, El Jefe ("The Boss"), El Toro ("The Bull"), James Conrad King and Jesse King.

Authorities person not said however they became alert of immoderate of the aliases. But tribunal records suggest Wedding and his associates each utilized aliases portion communicating connected the encrypted messaging app Threema.

According to the indictment, Clark's listed aliases see "The Dictator" and "El Niño Problemático" ("The Problem Child.")

Wedding besides went by "Public Enemy" oregon simply "PE."

"'Public Enemy' suggests that… helium loves the information that he's been capable to get distant with his crimes,"' Weiland, of the U.S. State Department, said.

8. Encryption

Encrypted messaging has for years been a hallmark of Wedding's alleged transgression operations.

A decennary ago, RCMP recovered Wedding's co-accused — successful the lawsuit targeting cocaine imports to Canada — were strictly communicating look to face, oregon via encrypted BlackBerry chats.

They utilized an off-shore server beyond the scope of police, according to tribunal documents.

Wedding and his associates are present said to similar Threema. The Switzerland-based app boasts its "users tin pass freely without worrying astir their privateness oregon security."

So the FBI alternatively struck a woody with a longtime cause trafficker — who'd antecedently worked with Wedding — to assistance infiltrate their Threema communications.

Prosecutors underlined successful a tribunal filing earlier this twelvemonth however specified apps stay a elemental and important instrumentality to the network.

"Wedding needs nary much than entree to encrypted communications to proceed to execute these ends," adjunct U.S. attorneys Maria Jhai and Lyndsi Allsop wrote.

WATCH | From Olympian to fugitive: 

9. 'Greed-driven' confidence

When FBI Supervisory Special Agent Brett Kalina arrested Wedding extracurricular a Hampton Inn successful San Diego successful 2008, helium said the Canadian didn't enactment benignant and guiltless arsenic suspects usually do.

"Wedding was the opposite," Kalina recounted successful an interview, and showed overwhelming assurance successful himself.

"More than immoderate idiosyncratic that I've ever dealt with aft arresting, helium wanted to asseverate his dominance implicit everybody astir him." 

Matthew Allen, peculiar cause successful complaint of the DEA's L.A. division, described the Wedding arsenic "unremitting, callous and greed-driven."

Kalina said Wedding made heavy underworld connections portion down bars successful the U.S. 

But erstwhile it came clip for him to code the justice successful May 2010 aft his cause conviction, a proceedings transcript shows Wedding pleaded for a lenient condemnation and a "second chance."

"Your Honour," Wedding said, "what I did was wholly retired of quality for me, and it is simply a idiosyncratic ngo of excavation to rebuild my reputation."

The justice handed him a four-year condemnation — a shorter word than helium had antecedently considered. Even the authoritative assured him, "Mr. Wedding's not a kingpin... helium is simply a idiosyncratic who was trying to interruption into the cause trade, and it didn't enactment out."

10. Changing his looks

Since the FBI announced past autumn it was hunting Wedding, the bureau released 3 pictures of the fugitive successful which helium sports precise antithetic looks.

The first, taken from a 2013 Canadian driver's licence, shows him with a slimmer physique and long, curly hairsbreadth — seemingly balding connected top.

In the 2 much caller pictures — some taken somewhere, sometime successful 2024 — the agelong hairsbreadth has been chopped short, portion Wedding appears bulkier. 

"It's imaginable for Wedding's value to person fluctuated oregon him to person altered his quality a small bit, which is mean successful fugitive investigations," said Davis, of the FBI's L.A. office

"Our chances of catching him with the nationalist enactment stay precise high."

CBC News elder newsman Thomas Daigle has extensively covered the hunt for Ryan Wedding. He tin beryllium reached by email astatine [email protected].