An Olympic snowboarder accused of running a massive international drug trafficking operation to smuggle cocaine into Canada was prosecuted nearly 15 years ago in San Diego for conspiracy to possess and distribute 24 kilos of cocaine.
Ryan James Wedding, 43, an Olympic snowboarder was charged this week, along with 15 others, for allegedly running a massive, murderous international drug trafficking operation to smuggle cocaine into Canada from Colombia through Mexico, federal authorities announced Thursday.
Wedding, a Canadian citizen who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, allegedly ran a criminal enterprise that smuggled 16 tons of cocaine to Canada every year, which would make it the largest cocaine supplier to the country. Prosecutors on Thursday called him an "Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord"
Wedding, who is also known as “El Jefe,” and his co-conspirator, Andrew Clark, were also accused of committing murders over stolen drugs or drug debts.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Wedding's San Diego Connection
The case in San Diego dates back to 2008, culminating with the arrest of Wedding and two co-conspirators on June 13 of that year.
Local
According to prosecutors, Wedding, Michael Krapchan and Hassan Shirani were all involved in the case, which the FBI connected to the Akhundov DTO, a drug-trafficking organization based in Vancouver, Canada, that law enforcement said was led by Elmar Akhundov.
Court documents sworn to by FBI special agent Brett Kalina state that Akhundov and Krapchan were involved in negotiations with a confidential source (CS) via phone calls and in person in San Diego, Seattle and elsewhere. The pair agreed to do a drug deal in San Diego on June 9, 2008, for 24 kilos of cocaine, where the CS eventually met up with Wedding, Krapchan and Shirani, who told the CS that the bulk of the buy money was not in San Diego, but, rather, at LAX.
During negotiations in San Diego, according to court docs, Wedding told the CS that it was the conspirators' intent to "grab one" kilo and "have a look at it … and grab the rest of them later."
"Ultimately, the parties agreed to conduct the exchange on June 13, 2008" in San Diego, after the co-conspirators could inspect the drugs.
Kalisa said in court docs that the three co-conspirators were seen arriving on that date at the San Diego Hampton Inn Hotel, after which Krapchan left for a second location, where he paid $17,000 for a kilo of cocaine. Agents said they arrested him after he was witnessed calling Wedding and Shirani to let them know he had made the buy. The pair were then taken into custody when they left the Hampton Inn.
After their arrest, law enforcement said they searched their car and found a hotel key for a Comfort inn in Woodland Hills, where investigators seized about $100,000 hidden in a piece of furniture.
According to another court document, Wedding was found guilty on May 28, 2010, and sentenced to four years in federal prison.
NBC 7 has asked the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation how long Wedding served and whether he was deported to Canada upon his release but has not yet heard back.
The Canadian Kingpin Allegations
Prosecutors said Thursday that the international drug trafficking operation connected to Wedding “routinely” shipped cocaine shipments from Colombia to Mexico, which were then taken to Los Angeles stash houses before being smuggled into Ontario, Canada, federal investigators alleged.
“Just from March to August of this year alone, we found they transported 1,800 kilograms of cocaine,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “On a yearly basis, they would move about 60 tons of cocaine.
Wedding, who now resides in Mexico, is on the run, according to prosecutors, while several of the defendants were in custody awaiting their court appearance in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
“We will not allow Los Angeles to be used as a trans-shipment point," Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton of the Los Angeles Police Department, which collaborated with the FBI, DEA and other international law enforcement agencies in the latest takedown, said.
Hamilton also said there were violent acts that can be “traced directly” to the alleged criminal enterprise.
“The violence is one of the byproducts that is an unfortunate aspect of these drug trafficking organizations, and the Los Angeles Police Department remains committed as well to preventing that violence from occurring not only in the Los Angeles region, but linked to this organization throughout North America,” Hamilton said.
During the investigation, authorities have seized more than one ton of cocaine, $255,400 as well as more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency, officials said.
“The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization and its unremitting, callous and greed-driven crimes has been operating for far too long, spanning several countries, from Colombia through Mexico, the U.S. and to Canada,” said Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Los Angeles. “They have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders.
Currently, Wedding is accused of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances; conspiracy to export cocaine; running a continuing criminal enterprise; murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime; and an attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
As Wedding, 43, remained at large, the FBI offered a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest. If convicted, Wedding faces a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the murder and attempted murder charges.
