Olympian turned ‘killer drug kingpin El Jefe’ has £30m motorcycle stash and medals seized
A former Olympic star is alleged to be a murderous drug kingpin who is the “largest distributor of cocaine in Canada” and orchestrated the “execution” of a US federal witness
Mexican police have seized a £30m motorbike collection believed to be owned by former Olympian and alleged murderous cocaine kingpin Ryan James Wedding.
Wedding, a snowboarder who represented his native Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics, was placed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list in March. The FBI say he is responsible for trafficking 60,000 kg of cocaine every year and the US department of justice has described the former athlete as the “largest distributor of cocaine in Canada” and on a par with the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Wedding – who the FBI say goes by aliases including “El Jefe”, “Giant”, “Public Enemy”, “JP Morgan”, “James Conrad King” and “Jesse King” – has also been accused of ordering the assassination of a US federal witness. Information leading to the arrest or conviction of the 44-year-old comes with a reward of up to £11m, but he is believed to be hiding in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
Now, Mexican authorities have announced that officers seized 62 motorcycles, a pair of Olympic medals, two further vehicles, and artwork in a series of coordinated raids on four properties this month.
Photos released by the FBI’s Los Angeles division show dozens of motorcycles, including Italian Ducatis, lined up in a warehouse.
Prosecutors allege Wedding ordered the murder of a witness who was prepared to testify against him. They say the victim was “executed” with five bullet wounds in his head at a restaurant in the city of Medellin, Colombia, in January.
In a past life, the Canadian turned out for his country in the Giant Slalom snowboarding event during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and finished 24th overall.
The FBI say the 6ft 4in, 17st star should “stand out in Mexico” and suggested he may even have undergone plastic surgery to hide his true appearance.
Wedding is accused of working with Mexican drug cartels and Colombian neo-paramilitary groups to flood his native country with cocaine, according to a 54-page indictment unsealed by US authorities.
The “Wedding criminal enterprise”, as it has been branded by the FBI, is said to source its cocaine from Colombia, where it is cooked and tested in homebrew kitchens, before it is delivered on boats and planes to Mexico.
According to the FBI, freighters and trucks then allegedly smuggle the cocaine across the United States-Mexico border, with the Californian cities of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside serving as “storage hubs” for the cocaine before it is distributed in Canada.
Wedding, alongside his alleged second-in-command, Andrew Clark, who is said to be known as “The Dictator”, and “El Niño Problemático,” or “The Problem Child,” are accused of hiring cartel hitmen known as sicarios to murder rival drug dealers.
Ten alleged members of the syndicate have already been arrested by the FBI, including 34-year-old Clark, who was apprehended in Mexico in October 2024 and extradited to the US in spring.
These include Gursewak Singh Bal, a 31-year-old Canadian crime internet blogger who is allegedly accepted a £7,400 payment from a Wedding associate to post a photo of a key FBI witness on his website Dirty News “so that enterprise members and associates could locate and kill” him.
Another suspect is Deep Paradkar, a 62-year-old barrister, of dual Indian and Canadian nationality, who is accused of advising Wedding to murder the FBI witness and of giving him access to sensitive court documents.
Edwin Basora-Hernandez, a 31-year-old reggaetón music artist, allegedly supplied contact information on the witnesses’ whereabouts for Wedding.
Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, said: “Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organisations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel.
“We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organisation lies dismantled.”
