What we know about Ryan Wedding, Canadian Olympian and accused drug lord
globalnews.caUp until Thursday, some people may have heard Ryan Wedding’s name but most were probably unaware of his existence.
The Canadian Olympian caught the world’s attention when the FBI alleged that he was the head of a cocaine ring and had been ordering hits in his home country from afar.
In the indictments, it was alleged that the cocaine ring he was involved in was moving 60 tonnes of cocaine per year.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against 16 people on Thursday, including 10 Canadians in connection to a case it had dubbed Project Slalom.
Most have been arrested across North America, aside from Wedding and one other Canadian man.
Here is what we know so far about Wedding:
While Wedding was born in Thunder Bay, Ont., he was a resident of Coquitlam, B.C., when he suited up for his country at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.
He competed in the Parallel Giant Slalom, finishing in 24th place, well behind the leaders.
In a release Thursday, the DOJ said the 43-year-old had been arrested in 2010 in California as part of a drug bust.
They did not say how long he served in connection with that case but they believe he resumed trafficking after he was released and had been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which was formerly run by Juan (El Chapo) Guzman.
Back in 2015, RCMP held a news conference in Halifax announcing that they had charged 15 people. including Wedding. after a two-year drug trafficking investigation.
At the time, they said that Operation Harrington had covered cocaine that was being imported into Canada from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and the United States.
They said police had seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine, as well as, weapons and vehicles as a
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