00:00And today we start with an Olympic athlete, a snowboarder that likes snow a little too much.
00:06You know what his nickname is? His nickname is the Snow King, and we're talking about Ryan Wedding.
00:10Now, Ryan Wedding is a Canadian snowboarder. Let's pull him up.
00:13Let's pull the photo of the guy. Look at that.
00:16This is him before he got involved with basically dealing cocaine.
00:19Carving big lines.
00:21So here's the thing. He's currently facing trial in the United States,
00:23and he's being accused of leading a massive and violent cocaine ring that is tied to the Cienolua cartel.
00:29Now, these are the key allegations. Cocaine trafficking.
00:32So, you know, he's accused of orchestrating shipments of cocaine through Mexico into the Northeast United States and all of
00:38Canada.
00:39And he's also accused of having cartel alliances with the Cienolua cartel, which is very interesting.
00:45And he's also accused of orchestrating a few murders.
00:49A few.
00:49A few.
00:50But that also included a couple in Toronto that were basically mistaken for people that had stolen drugs from him.
00:58And he had them killed, and that's what set off the run.
01:00And he was hiding in Mexico.
01:02They finally caught up to him after several years.
01:04But what's interesting is he's Canadian, right?
01:06And you always think Olympic athletes, winter sports, this is like nice white people stuff.
01:11You know what I'm saying?
01:12And here you have.
01:13I mean, cocaine is also nice white people.
01:15It's white people stuff, yes.
01:16But who's nicer and whiter than Canadians?
01:19And here's a guy, and he's involved in the cartel.
01:21Let me show you guys, because this is not just like any regular guy that you think, you know.
01:27No, no, no.
01:27This guy is wanted by the FBI.
01:29This is the official FBI website, guys.
01:31Former Olympian wanted for running transnational drug enterprise.
01:35Are already in several murders added to FBI list of the 10 most wanted fugitives.
01:40Now, I'm a former athlete that trained in the Olympic track.
01:46And I know the amount of exercise and the amount of food and energy that you expend.
01:53And the thing that happens when you stop competing is there's this unbalance of your hormones.
02:01You may start feeling a little bit lost.
02:03And a lot of athletes, unfortunately, they either chase thrill or drugs.
02:09And in this case, the two.
02:10Yeah.
02:11Terrible combination.
02:12Terrible combination.
02:13Now, what's interesting is, for me, the clash of cultures.
02:15Like, I can't imagine this guy dealing with the cartel.
02:18Like, you know, here comes this Canadian guy and stuff.
02:22But he's a tough guy.
02:22He's a strong guy.
02:24That's exactly what I think.
02:25Just the unsuspecting guy, a traveling athlete, snowboarder.
02:29They have to travel all the time.
02:31He's not suspicious.
02:33They have these big bags.
02:34Imagine how many bricks you can fit on a snowboard bag.
02:37Right.
02:38That's a lot.
02:38Also, you know, I'm an avid snowboarder.
02:40Snowboarders are known for being kind of like the outlaws of the winter sports world.
02:45So, you know, if I had to pick one sport in the winter sports of who's going to be the
02:49delinquent, you know, post-career.
02:51But you bring up an interesting thing.
02:53Yeah.
02:53Once the sport stops for a lot of these athletes, we see this with a lot of former NFL players
02:58as well that have been caught, you know, dealing drugs.
03:00You know, they have a little bit of money.
03:02What are they going to do now?
03:03But, God, you know, getting involved with a cartel is a dicey, dicey decision.
03:08It's a dicey post-sports decision.
03:10But here's the reality.
03:12A lot of these athletes, they are a sponsor throughout their playing years, throughout their competition years.
03:18But then when that's over and you're not ranking on the first five, on the first ten, the money starts
03:23drying up really, really quickly.
03:25And these are very expensive sports.
03:26You have to travel.
03:27You have to buy equipment.
03:29The training, you have to drop at least $1,200 every year for your snow pass.
03:36And on top of that, the traveling, the competition is very intense, the training.
03:40You can work full-time jobs.
03:42A lot of these guys also come from construction workers, blue-collar homes.
03:47So there's a lack of support after the competition ends and also a lack of education.
03:52A lot of these guys are just left out trying to drive after their sporting careers are over.
03:57And someone involved in him, he's involved in a very high adrenaline sport.
04:01So, you know, a lot of times you see these guys that are criminals, they're involved in high adrenaline sports.
04:05That's why it's chasing the thrill or chasing the drugs, either of the two, because otherwise what are you going
04:09to do after doing 580 on an everyday basis?
04:13You go home and watch TV.
04:15Now, what I wonder is, was he doing cocaine while he was in the sport?
04:18Because, I mean, you know, cocaine doesn't mix well with athletic performance.
04:23No, no, I don't think so.
04:24I don't think, you know, they say don't use your own stash.
