Olympic snowboarder turned cartel cocaine kingpin wanted by FBI for ordering execution



A former Olympic snowboarder is on the FBI Most Wanted List for allegedly spearheading a multicultural trafficking organization.

Ryan James Wedding is a 44-year-old former snowboarder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, who competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He took part in the men's Parallel Giant Slalom for Canada, finishing 24th.

However, that would seemingly be the last time Wedding dealt with literal snow before becoming an accused cocaine trafficker.

'Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world.'

According to Sporting News, Wedding's first drug charges came six years after his Olympics appearance, when he was arrested in San Diego for cocaine trafficking and later convicted for conspiracy to possess and distribute.

Now, the FBI has placed Wedding on its top 10 most-wanted list and, working with the Department of Justice and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has charged him with overseeing the operations of a criminal enterprise, engaging in witness intimidation, and profiting off of laundered drug money.

Wedding is believed to be in Mexico, where he is currently being sheltered by cartel associates.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said, "Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel."

She added, "We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organization lies dismantled."

Details of Wedding's witness intimidation came from the DOJ, which said he ordered a hit on a witness in a federal narcotics case.

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Wedding allegedly placed a bounty on the head of a witness for a 2024 indictment and enlisted others to locate and kill him. The witness was shot to death in a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia.

Not only is Wedding said to have ordered the assassinations of others as well, but perhaps shockingly, it was allegedly Wedding's lawyer who advised him to put out the hit on the 2024 witness.

Deepak Balwant Paradkar, a 62-year-old barrister residing in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, allegedly advised Wedding to murder the victim in order to avoid extradition to the United States from Mexico. Paradkar also improperly provided Wedding with court documents and access to members of his enterprise who had been arrested.

Wedding is charged with a multitude of crimes stemming from the 2024 indictment, including continuing criminal enterprise, assorted drug trafficking charges, and directing the murder of two members of a family from Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in November 2023.

Those killings were reportedly in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in California. A third family member was also shot but survived the injuries.

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Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

"Ryan Wedding and his associates allegedly imported tons of cocaine each year from Colombia through Mexico and onto the streets of U.S. communities," FBI Director Kash Patel said. "His criminal activities and violent actions will not be tolerated, and this is a clear signal that the FBI will use our resources and expertise to find Ryan Wedding and bring him and his associates to justice."

The diverse cast of characters involved in the case included Edwin Basora-Hernandez, a reggaeton musician from the Dominican Republic, who provided the contact information for the aforementioned witness, which helped assassins locate him.

Gursewak Singh Bal, co-founder of the Dirty News website, allegedly took money in exchange for not posting about Wedding, and instead posting a photograph of the aforementioned witness.

A $15 million reward for information leading to Wedding's arrest or prosecution was issued by the U.S. government, with another $2 million in reward money offered for similar information on each of the assassins.

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Christian snowboarding coach fired by school district for calling out boys competing against girls wins $75,000 settlement



A high school snowboarding coach settled a case against Vermont educators and his school district after he was fired over comments he made about males identifying as female and competing in girls' sports.

David Bloch, the founding coach of Woodstock Union High School's snowboarding team, filed a lawsuit in July 2023 following his termination for discussing the nature of transgender student athletes with two high school snowboarders.

The lawsuit was reportedly settled against the Vermont Agency of Education, the Vermont Principals’ Association, and the school district that agreed to pay him $75,000, which was 17 times more than his annual coaching salary.

A United States District Court judge denied Bloch's reinstatement as a coach in December 2023, but Bloch filed a notice of appeal. He then agreed to drop the appeal request once he accepted the settlement.

Bloch in February 2023 overheard a discussion between two of his team members, a male and a female. The pair were discussing a male competitor on the opposing team identifying as a female and competing in the girls' division. The female student in the conversation allegedly suggested the male was being "transphobic."

Bloch reportedly joined their discussion and explained biological differences between men and women regarding DNA, physical development, and bone structure. He also stated that the male physique provided boys an advantage over girls in athletic competition. The coach also is a practicing Catholic, which reinforces his belief that "God immutably creates each person as male or female."

Despite claiming that the discussion lasted "no more than three minutes" and was in no way "disruptive," Superintendent Sherry Sousa fired Bloch the following day.

She claimed he violated the board's policy regarding "harassment, hazing, and bullying" by questioning "the legitimacy and appropriateness of the student competing on the girls' team to members of the WUHS snowboard team."

The administrator even sent Bloch a letter that declared he "created an objectively offensive environment and constituted harassment based on gender identity," and as such his termination was justified.

What's more, Sousa reportedly put a red flag on Bloch's record in an effort to prevent him from being rehired.

The judge revealed in the December 2023 decision that Sousa "has a transgender child, who was previously on the snowboarding team, and felt the issue was an important one." The judge also noted that the school official "could have issued a warning, a reprimand, mandated training, or issued a suspension or any combination of these measures but instead chose termination."

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Viral video shows heroic rescue of snowboarder buried alive



A skier was carving through fresh powder atop Mount Baker in Washington last month when he caught a glimpse of something out of place amid the pines and the snow: the underside of a snowboard. Despite the snowboard, there was no snowboarder in sight.

Francis Zuber of New York has been credited with exploring further and ultimately exhuming Ian Steger of Washington state — the man who now recognizes him as a brother.

Zuber had been skiing Mount Baker with a partner on March 3 when he serendipitously came across a snowboarder buried full-length in a tree well.

"I only caught a glimpse of his board but it was enough to get my attention," Zuber wrote on YouTube.

Steger had been with another group, reportedly all experienced and equipped with with proper avalanche gear and radios.

Steger told KATU-TV, "What happened is when we went into the trees, they were so narrow that we all found our own avenues and lanes. The one I chose happened to be the one that had a big tree well in it, a hole that I fell into."

Although he had a radio, he was unable to reach it after being swallowed up by the snowy void.

"I was gonna die on my own mountain in an area I’ve ridden hundreds of times," said Steger.

The video of the encounter captured by Zuber's GoPro camera shows the skier zip past a blur of red after navigating through a throng of trees. He stops and can be heard saying, "Whoa. Oh sh**. ... Are you all right?"

Steger, suspended in darkness under several feet of snow, has no idea help is coming.

"He’s yelling out asking if I’m okay, if I can hear him. I can’t see. I can’t hear or see anything," Steger recalled.

Zuber ditches his skis, walks up the slope to Steger's feet, and begins frantically digging.

His tunneling efforts prove successful: Several feet down, Zuber discovers a pair of mitts and arms, fortunately still attached to Steger. However, with the snowboarder's head still engulfed in snow, he is living on borrowed time.

"We figure [he was buried] somewhere between five and seven minutes; he was probably at either a third or just the halfway point of his possible survival time in there," Zuber told Canadian state media.

Running short on breath himself, Zuber continues scooping snow until finally he scrapes snow off Steger's visor and mouth.

"Okay, you're good. You're good. I gotcha," says Zuber. "You okay? Can you breathe?"

"Oh yeah," answers Steger.

Zuber tells Steger, no longer suffocating, "We're both gonna catch our breath for a sec, then I'll dig you out."

Steger thanked his rescuer, who proceeded to assemble his shovel and dig him out of the mountainside.

Tree well rescue at Mt. Baker www.youtube.com

Mount Baker CEO Gwyn Howat said that watching the footage of Steger's rescue and Zuber's methodical approach was "super gratifying."

Howat noted that the supermajority of persons who get trapped in tree wells or deep snow cannot ultimately get themselves out without help.

Zuber wrote in an Instagram post, "The mountains don't care how much skill or experience you have. They don't even care if you and your ski partners are doing everything right."

"I'm thankful I knew just enough to scrape by and perform a successful rescue," he added.

In an April 1 post, Steger indicated he had since resumed boarding, now alongside a new friend: "Grateful to be back on the mountain and to get a day in with my new brother [Francis Zuber]."

Steger underscored his appreciation for Zuber's help, adding that there "are no words to express" his gratitude.

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