What’s behind the Olympic athlete who became one of the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives?

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According to FBI Director Kash Patel, Wedding is accused of masterminding “a long-unprecedented drug trafficking and narcoterrorism program.” The new image was reportedly taken last summer in Mexico, where the 44-year-old Canadian was constantly trying to change his appearance to avoid capture, federal agents reported.

Wedding’s inclusion on the most wanted list follows an international investigation that led to operations in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The Toronto Star reports that he is considered by the American agency itself as “one of the largest suppliers of cocaine to Canada”. In March, the FBI announced an initial reward of $10 million, increased after the lengthy escape period.

The case took on a new shape when Wedding was charged in November with ordering the killing of a federal witness who was scheduled to testify against him. Authorities say the former athlete posted the victim’s image on a Canadian website and offered a reward for her death, believing it would ensure his acquittal and the continuation of the criminal network. The victim was shot to death in a restaurant days before testifying.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said last month that the organization Wedding led imported about 60 tons of cocaine a year into Los Angeles via trucks crossing the Mexican border. “He controls one of the most prolific and violent trafficking organizations in the world. He is currently the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada,” he said.

The structure set up by the Canadian would have direct links with Colombia and Mexico, thanks to front companies and a logistics network installed between Los Angeles and Ontario, according to the FBI. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced the arrest of seven suspects linked to the group in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, who are expected to be extradited to the United States.

Violence associated with the network has spread to civilians in Canada. In November 2023, gunmen broke into the Sidhu family home in Caledon, killing Jagtar Singh Sidhu and seriously injuring his wife and daughter in an attack described as a case of mistaken identity. “The police painted him as a monster,” Clare Fader told the Toronto Star of her son, one of the victims of the criminal structure.

Key witnesses have also been attacked outside of Canada. The Canadian newspaper reported the assassination in Medellín of collaborator Jonathan Acebedo-García, whose cooperation had been decisive in dismantling part of the project. The U.S. Attorney accuses Wedding of paying $7,000 for images of the victim before her death in January 2025.

Before joining organized crime, Wedding represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom. According to FIS records, his last competition was in March of that year, when he did not finish the National Championship race. His main result came a few weeks earlier: a victory at the FIS Snowboard World Cup.

Today, Wedding’s athletic trajectory contrasts with the international warning from federal agencies. On the run, accused of murder and large-scale trafficking, the former athlete continues to be sought in the three countries where, according to investigators, he built one of the most violent networks of the last decade. The FBI believes that he could be under the protection of criminal organizations in Mexico and emphasizes that his capture depends, for the moment, on international collaboration.