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FBI Director Kash Patel described Canadian erstwhile snowboarder Ryan Wedding arsenic a 'modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar'.
Published On 20 Nov 2025
The United States State Department has raised its reward for accusation starring to the apprehension of a erstwhile Olympic snowboarder turned alleged cause kingpin, arsenic Canadian authorities announced 7 radical linked to the fugitive person been arrested.
Speaking astatine a quality league successful Washington connected Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel described Ryan Wedding arsenic a “modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar” – referring to the notorious Colombian cause lord who died successful 1993.
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The 44-year-old, who is connected the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list, is believed to beryllium hiding retired successful Mexico. Patel said the reward for accusation starring to Wedding’s apprehension present stands astatine $15m, rising from $10m.
“[Wedding] is liable for engineering a narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism programme that we person not seen successful a agelong time,” Patel said.
Wedding, who was indicted successful 2024 for conspiracy to administer and person cocaine, conspiracy to export cocaine and conspiracy to perpetrate murder, is “extremely dangerous”, said FBI cause Akil Davis.
Davis added that Wedding, who represented Canada successful snowboarding astatine the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th successful the parallel elephantine slalom, is “extremely violent” and “extremely wealthy”.
At Wednesday’s quality conference, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding is Canada’s largest cocaine distributor and is down the trafficking of $1bn worthy of drugs each year.
Bondi said Wedding works intimately with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, transporting astir 60 metric tonnes of cocaine annually into Los Angeles successful trucks crossed the confederate border.
“We volition find you, and you volition beryllium accountable and held to justness for your crimes,” Bondi said.
“It’s [drugs] sidesplitting our kids. It’s sidesplitting our friends. It’s sidesplitting our relatives. And this feline is liable for a tremendous magnitude of that horror,” she added.
On Tuesday, Canadian officials arrested 7 radical successful transportation with Wedding’s cocaine-smuggling operation, including his lawyer Deepak Paradkar, arsenic portion of a coordinated interagency effort by Canada and the US dubbed “Operation Giant Slalom”.
Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said the 62-year-old lawyer advised Wedding that if helium killed a witnesser successful a pending transgression case, “the lawsuit would beryllium dismissed”.
The witnesser successful question was past murdered aft being changeable 5 times successful the caput successful January 2025 astatine a edifice successful Medellin, Colombia.
“Wedding placed a bounty connected the victim’s caput successful the erroneous content that the victim’s decease would effect successful the dismissal of transgression charges against him and his planetary drug-trafficking ringing and would further guarantee that helium was not extradited to the United States,” Essayli said.
“He was wrong,” helium added.
Bondi said US authorities are offering a $2m reward for accusation starring to the apprehension of those progressive successful the Medellin killing.
A 2nd antheral arrested this week by Canadian authorities, named Gursewak Singh Bal, is the laminitis of a fake quality website known arsenic The Dirty News.
Bal was allegedly paid to station a photograph of the witnesser and his woman connected his website anterior to the execution truthful they could beryllium “located and killed”, according to the Justice Department.
US authorities are present seeking the extradition of each 7 radical arrested successful Canada, portion 3 others linked to the Medellin execution were taken into custody successful the US.
Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Michael Duheme, said Wedding remains “one of the apical threats to Canadian nationalist safety”.
As portion of Operation Giant Slalom, the Treasury Department besides announced that its Office of Foreign Asset Control is imposing fiscal sanctions connected Wedding and his network.
English (US) ·