Who is Ryan Wedding? What to know about the Olympian turned drug kingpin accused of murder

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00:00An Olympian turned drug kingpin ordered the murder of a federal witness who was gunned down in a

00:04restaurant after publishing photographs of him and his wife. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi

00:09announced in a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel. But who is Ryan Wedding and how did

00:14he end up on the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list? Here's everything you need to know.

00:19Today the Justice Department is proud to announce new developments in our ongoing investigation

00:25into Ryan James Wedding. Wedding is the former Olympian from Canada who is now the leader

00:33of a transnational criminal enterprise. He's currently on the FBI's and has been top 10

00:42most wanted list. He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations

00:51in this world. Before he became known as one of the world's biggest drug kingpins,

00:56Ryan Wedding competed as a snowboarder for Teen Canada in the 2002 Olympics. He didn't make a name

01:02for himself as a snowboarding phenom in the Olympic scene, but Wedding would soon become known to

01:07authorities for more nefarious activities, starting in 2006 when he and another snowboarder were linked

01:12to a house in British Columbia, in which investigators seized 6,800 marijuana plants,

01:18according to Fox News. There were no charges in that case, but three years later, Wedding was

01:22arrested in the U.S. when he allegedly tried to buy 24 kilograms of cocaine in California and went

01:28to prison for four years. Upon his release, he was once again tied to more drug charges before he went

01:33on the lam to avoid being captured by authorities. According to the outlet, it's believed he was

01:37working under the protection of the infamous Sinaloa cartel in Mexico and that he has trafficked over

01:43$1 billion in cocaine, allegedly smuggling 60 metric tons of cocaine into the U.S. every year

01:49via semi-trucks crossing into Southern California from Mexico, according to Bondi.