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Olympian-turned-alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been hit with new criminal charges by the FBI after the reward for information leading to his arrest was bumped up to $15million.
The former snowboarder, who was added to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in March, is accused of leading a billion-dollar drug smuggling operation and orchestrating several murders.
He has been wanted by the FBI, who previously offered a $10m reward for his arrest before it was increased to $15m this week, since October 2024.
On Wednesday, US attorney general Pam Bondi announced a host of new charges against Wedding for witness tampering and intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.
The press conference was held less than 24 hours after the case took a twist on Tuesday night, with Canadian police arresting a crime figure in connection with the assassination of a crucial witness.
That is according to La Presse, who revealed that 40-year-old Atna Onha - allegedly nicknamed Tupac - had been detained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the behest of the FBI.
Olympian-turned-alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been hit with new charges by the FBI
It comes 10 months after Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, 42, was murdered in broad daylight in the Colombian city of Medellin. He was reportedly set to be a key FBI witness in the case against Wedding.
Bondi, along with FBI director Kash Patel, held the press conference in the wake of Onha's arrest. He is said to be the head of an organized crime group around Montreal and allegedly previously had links to both the Hells Angels and the Mafia.
Bondi and Patel also announced the arrest of GTA defense lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who is accused of advising Wedding to murder Acebedo-Garcia last year.
Wedding, who was labeled a 'modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar', is allegedly responsible for 'engineering a narco trafficking and narco terrorism program that we have not seen in a long time,' said Patel.
The former Olympics star 'controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world,' Bondi added.
