It was a career pivot, to say the least.

Ryan James Wedding, 43, was once an aspiring snowboarder who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He placed 24th for Canada in the men’s parallel giant slalom.

But federal prosecutors alleged Thursday that Ryan Wedding had chosen a different path after his snowboarding career. He had become a major smuggler of cocaine into Canada and the United States, a ruthless leader of a criminal drug enterprise who did everything he could to keep his business – ‘The Wedding Criminal Enterprise’ – running smoothly.

“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and a murderer,” said US Atty. for the Central District of California, Martin Estrada said during a news conference.

He remains at large.

“Ryan Wedding is still at large,” said FBI Special Agent Krysti Hawkins.

Prosecutors announced an expanded superseding indictment Thursday, charging Wedding with conspiracy to export cocaine, with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and with three counts of murder in connection with the operation, as well as one count of attempted murder. The replacement document modifies and replaces the original charge.

“An Olympic athlete turned drug lord is now accused of leading a transnational organized crime group engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians,” Estrada said.

Prosecutors alleged that Wedding – who was known by many aliases, including “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy” – ran the drug trafficking organization from 2011 to 2024, along with his second-in-command Andrew Clark. Clark was arrested this month in Mexico.

They moved 60 tons of cocaine a year, Estrada said, calling the business “extremely productive.” It was a multibillion-dollar organization, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said they seized more than a ton of cocaine, dozens of rounds of ammunition and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency as part of their investigation.

They moved the cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to Southern California. From there they distributed it to Canada and other parts of the United States, working with a Canadian drug transport network led by Hardeep Ratte and Gurpreet Singh. The cocaine was stored in warehouses in Los Angeles before being trucked to Canada, prosecutors alleged.

Together, Wedding and Clark ruled their business with an iron fist, Estrada said.

‘They were murderers. Anyone who stood in their way would be met with violence, including murder,” he said.

The duo would hire hitmen and attack people they believed were getting in the way of their business.

In November 2023, Estrada said, they ordered the killing of an Indian couple visiting Canada who they believed had stolen a shipment of cocaine. There was a case of mistaken identity. The couple was shot dead in front of their daughter, who was also shot but survived.

In April 2024, Clark and another co-suspect, Malik Damion, ordered the murder of another Ontario man who was shot dead in his driveway. A month later, Wedding and Clark allegedly had another man murdered over a drug debt while he sat in his car in the driveway of his home.

The killings were all execution style, Estrada said.

It is not the first time that Wedding has been in trouble with the law. In 2008, he was arrested on cocaine trafficking charges. He was convicted in federal court in San Diego in 2009 after a jury trial of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine.

As part of a joint investigation, 12 people were arrested in the US, Canada, Colombia and Mexico in connection with drug trafficking.

Authorities are offering $50,000 to anyone with information leading to Wedding’s arrest.