An Olympian turned alleged drug kingpin ordered a success on a federal witness by publishing pics of him on-line — earlier than he was gunned down a restaurant, US Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi revealed Wednesday.
Ryan Marriage ceremony, 44, who competed for Canada as a snowboarder on the 2002 Winter Olympics, allegedly shared the pictures of the witness who was on account of testify in opposition to him on a now-deleted web site known as “The Soiled Information,” after he was indicted in 2024, Bondi mentioned at a Wednesday information convention in DC.
The witness was shot useless in a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, on Jan. 31, based on the feds, because the Division of Justice charged Marriage ceremony with two further counts of witness tampering and intimidation, cash laundering and drug trafficking.
Marriage ceremony, who’s listed as one of many FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives, can be accused of being one of many world’s greatest drug kingpins.”He controls one of the crucial prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations on this world,” Bondi mentioned.
Marriage ceremony allegedly smuggled 60 metric tons of cocaine into the US yearly by way of semi vehicles crossing into Southern California from Mexico, based on Bondi.
“Ryan Marriage ceremony and his associates allegedly imported tons of cocaine annually from Colombia via Mexico and onto the streets of US communities. His felony actions and violent actions won’t be tolerated, and it is a clear sign that the FBI will use our sources and experience to seek out Ryan Marriage ceremony and produce him and his associates to justice,” FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned on the press convention Wednesday.
The reward for his seize was upped to $15 million from $10 million on Wednesday by the State Division.
Ten defendants have been arrested and 11 whole are in custody following the arrests on Tuesday as a part of “Operation Large Slalom,” the investigation into January’s homicide of a federal witness.
They embody seven Canadians, one Colombian, and a 36-year-old from Orlando, FL, who’s a authorized everlasting resident of Colombia.
Marriage ceremony, who believed to be residing in Mexico, is accused of working intently with the Sinaloa Cartel, based on authorities.
“The homicide of a witness in Colombia earlier this 12 months was a merciless, cold-blooded act that would not and didn’t go unanswered,” First Assistant United States Lawyer Invoice Essayli of the Central District of California informed the press convention.
“This week’s arrests underscore our resolve to root out and punish the wrongdoers concerned on this felony group and function a warning for drug lord Ryan Marriage ceremony: If convicted, you’ll by no means see the skin of a jail ever once more,” he added.
