Olympic Snowboarder Turned ‘Modern-Day’ Pablo Escobar, According to FBI Director Kash Patel, Seen in Newly Released Photo By Ingrid Vasquez

As the search for Ryan James Wedding — the former Olympic snowboarder who holds a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List for allegedly trafficking cocaine internationally — continues, new photos of him have been released.

“Make no mistake about it: Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar. He’s a modern-day iteration of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a November press conference.

On Monday, Dec. 8, the FBI Los Angeles office released a newly obtained photo of Wedding, 44, on X, believed to have been taken in Mexico this summer.

The photo shows Wedding lying in bed, shirtless, showing off a portion of a large chest tattoo.

While he appears with a beard and a mustache in the photo, another photo of him, released by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico on X, shows him with a buzzcut and scruffy facial hair.

It is not clear when the second image, in which he is also standing in front of a gray wall wearing a green shirt, was taken.

Wedding is wanted for “allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada, and other locations in the United States,” FBI Los Angeles said in its post on X.

“Additionally, it is alleged that Wedding was involved in orchestrating multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes,” the federal government office continued.

Per a nine-count federal indictment announced against Wedding by the U.S. Department of Justice, in November, he is also accused of ordering the murder of a federal witness who was executed with five bullets to the head earlier this year, before he could testify against Wedding.

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The FBI said in a November press release that it is believed that Wedding lives in Mexico. The bureau believes that he works with the Sinaloa Cartel there to flood U.S. and Canadian communities with cocaine from Colombia, with protection from the cartel.

According to the press release, in a Nov. 19 press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., officials from the U.S. and Canada described Wedding as a narco-trafficker on par with notorious drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding’s operation was responsible for more than $1 billion a year in illegal drug proceeds, calling it “one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in this world.”

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The U.S. Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction.