1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Imagine the passion, energy, and consistent hard work it takes 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: to make it to the Olympics, even when your star 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: doesn't turn out to burn quite as bright as your passion. 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: Now imagine those same qualities applied to making it into 5 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 1: the top ranks in the world of international drug dealing. 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: This is how one guy made it into the top 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: echelons in both endeavors. I'm Patty Steele, the snowboard phenom 8 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: turned drug carteled kingpin. That's next on the back story. 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: We're back with the backstory. This is a story about 10 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: a snowboard champion who made it to the Olympics, but 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: when he didn't meddle, he threw it all away to 12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: devote his life to the international drug trade. Now, before 13 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: we get into it, here's a little quick note for you. 14 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: Everything you're about to hear is based on public records, indictments, 15 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: media investigations, and law enforcement statements. A lot of the 16 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: allegations against Ryan Wedding haven't been proven in court yet. 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: You see, as of this moment, he's still out there 18 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: in that world, a fugitive from justice, but he's presumed 19 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: innocent until he's caught and convicted. Okay, let's go back 20 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: in time. It's nineteen eighty one and Ryan James Wedding 21 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: is born in thunder Bay, Ontario. It's kind of the 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: perfect scenario for somebody who's obsessed with winter sports. Thunder 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: Bay with its gorgeous snow capped peaks, and Ryan's family 24 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: has snow in their veins. They're a snow family. His 25 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: grandparents own a ski resort, Mount Waldy. His uncle is 26 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: a ski coach, his dad's a former competitive scaer. Snow 27 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: is their passion and their career paths. As a little kid, 28 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: Ryan starts out skiing, but eventually he gets into this 29 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: still new, still rebellious thing called snowboarding. And he's really 30 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: good instantly, I mean really good, winning the first snowboarding 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: race he ever entered. At just fifteen. He makes the 32 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: Canadian national team. He's on everybody's radar. He takes a 33 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: bronze medal at the nineteen ninety nine Junior World Championships 34 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: and then a silver in two thousand and one. Suddenly 35 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: those local slopes in Ontario start looking kind of small 36 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: to Ryan, and then comes Salt Lake City. It's the 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: two thousand and two Winter Olympics and Ryan wedding, is 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: on the start list for the men's parallel Giant Slalom. 39 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: He doesn't medal, he finishes twenty fourth, but he made 40 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: it there. He's one of the very few humans on 41 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: earth who can say I was an Olympian. That'd be cool, right, Okay. 42 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: You'd think that this is the beginning of the story 43 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: of a long athletic career, growing as an athlete, with 44 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: more competitions, sponsorships, coaching gigs, maybe a quiet retirement in 45 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: Whistler giving young snowboarders motivational speeches about never giving up. 46 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: But that's not what happens to Ryan. Shortly after his 47 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: first Olympics, Ryan quits competitive snowboarding. So what do you 48 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: do when you're twenty one and your whole life has 49 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: been organized around racing very fast down a hill and 50 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: then suddenly you're done. Ryan decides to pivot. He goes 51 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: to college in British Columbia and gets into bodybuilding to 52 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: make a few bucks on the side. He starts working 53 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: as a bouncer at some Vancouver area nightclubs, and that's 54 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: when his job in the nightlife brings him into contact 55 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: with a lot of low life types. Ryan starts getting 56 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: into the weed trade. But he's not just dealing or 57 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: growing a few plants at home. He's invested in a 58 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: large scale grow operation in British Columbia called eighteen Carrot Farms. 59 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: In two thousand and six, cops rate it and find 60 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: sixty eight hundred plants, a shotgun, and millions of dollars 61 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: worth of weed. Ryan doesn't happen to be present during 62 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: that raid, and he's not charged. It's a thrill, and 63 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: his pattern becomes high risk and high reward, with a 64 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: really high capacity for denial, especially since that first brush 65 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: with the law didn't a land him in a cell. 66 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: So at this point, say investigators and journalists, marijuana becomes 67 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: just not enough. Ryan apparently links up with Iranian and 68 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: Russian cocaine smugglers. The money, the danger, the power they 69 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: all ramp up. If his Olympic career was about shaving 70 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: milliseconds off a run, this new life is about adding 71 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: millions to his bank account. But the stakes are changing. 72 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: By two thousand and eight, he's trying to buy kilos 73 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: of cocaine from what he thinks is a reliable supplier, 74 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: but it turns out the supplier is an undercover US 75 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: federal agent, Ryan is convicted and sentenced to four years 76 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: in prison. Now, for some folks, prison is a hard stop, 77 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: but for others it's a networking event. Insiders say Ryan 78 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: uses those years not to get out of the drug business, 79 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,919 Speaker 1: but to learn how to play at a much higher 80 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: level when he gets out of prison. After his release, 81 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: Ryan moves to Mexico and he becomes deeply embedded in 82 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: one of the most infamous criminal organizations on the planet, 83 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: the Sinaloa Cartel. Investigators claim that he rises through the ranks, 84 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:24,280 Speaker 1: becoming a high ranking trafficker, working closely with Sinaloa linked 85 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: networks and building his own operation that stretches from Columbia 86 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,160 Speaker 1: through Mexico into the United States and Canada. Now it's 87 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: the mid twenty twenties and the FBI says Ryan Wedding 88 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: is at the center of a transnational drug operation, moving 89 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: huge volumes of cocaine up to sixty metric tons a 90 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: year billions of dollars in narcotics. He's no longer just 91 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: a middleman, say the Feds. He's known as Giant public 92 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: Enemy and Elhifa, the boss and violence is a part 93 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: of the dark picture. In an October twenty twenty four, 94 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: US indictment prosecutors say he's trafficking drugs and ordering killings. 95 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: He's linked to the November twenty twenty three murders of 96 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: a Canadian couple killed in a mistaken identity hit, as 97 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: well as another hit carried out in an ongoing turf wour. 98 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: In addition, they link him to the murder in medigyin 99 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: Columbia of a federal witness in a US drug case 100 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: allegedly shot on Ryan Wedding's orders. Despite having the phase 101 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: of a nice looking, mild manner athlete who maybe sells 102 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: weed on the side, Ryan's now a guy involved in 103 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: full blown narcopolitics, money murder, manipulation, and putting the hit 104 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: on anyone who might talk. In twenty twenty four, US 105 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: authorities launch what they call Operation Giant Slalom, a multi 106 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: agency probe targeting Ryan's network, not the Skiing reference. It's 107 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: a team effort the FBI, de DYEA, Homeland Security, and 108 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: other international partners in Canada, Mexico, and Columbia. They use 109 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: wire taps, undercover buys, financial records, messages, and the ever 110 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: present shadow of violence is always there, but they don't 111 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: get him. In October twenty twenty four, an indictment charges 112 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: Ryan in more than a dozen others with everything from 113 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: drug trafficking and criminal enterprise to multiple murders, attempted murders, 114 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: and weapons offenses. By March twenty twenty five, the FBI 115 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: has had enough. Ryan Wedding, one time Olympic snowboarder, is 116 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: added to the ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He's now 117 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: one of the most sought after people on the planet, 118 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: with a reward of up to ten million dollars for 119 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: info leading to his capture and or conviction. They later 120 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: raised the reward to fifteen million dollars, the highest on 121 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: the list. I mean, think about it. There was a 122 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: time when Ryan Wedding's face on a poster mean hey, 123 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: come watch this guy's snowboard for Canada. Now the poster 124 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:11,239 Speaker 1: reads armed and dangerous call. The FBI authorities have closed 125 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,239 Speaker 1: in on his assets, including seizing a rare thirteen million 126 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: dollar Mercedes roadster tied to him in La but Ryan 127 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: himself remains a ghost, believed to be hiding in Mexico 128 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: under cartel protection. The question is why did this happen 129 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: to a guy who seemingly had it all headed for 130 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: the top. Psychologists say for people who have focused on 131 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: a sport for their whole life, the fall is hard. 132 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: Sometimes you just don't make the next team, sponsorships don't appear. 133 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: You're twenty one years old, and the identity of you've 134 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: had since you were a kid evaporates. Some former Olympians movement, coaching, broadcasting, 135 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: or business. Others spiral. If your baseline for excitement is 136 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: hurtling down an icy mountain in front of cameras, your 137 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: normal might be skewed. You look for other high adrenaline 138 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: environments because you already have a comfort with high risk, 139 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: a craving for that adrenaline, and a belief that you 140 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: can beat the odds. So far, he has beaten the odds, 141 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: but how long can one guy hide? I hope you 142 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: like the Backstory with Patty Steele. I'd love it if 143 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: you'd subscribe or follow for free to get new episodes 144 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if you 145 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, 146 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 147 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:44,359 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 148 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer 149 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jay Kushner. We have new 150 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,319 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 151 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram 152 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: at Real Patty Steel and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 153 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the 154 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.