Alleged accomplice of Olympic snowboarder-turned-drug kingpin Ryan Wedding arrested in Canada
The FBI has nabbed Rasheed Pascua Hossain, who operated under the alias “JP Morgan,” for his alleged role in laundering money from a large drug‑trafficking operation run by former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.
CBC reports that a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment took Hossain into custody on Friday, and the FBI’s online profile now lists him as “captured.”
Federal authorities have charged him — in the United States — with cocaine trafficking and money laundering, though court filings and the status of any legal counsel are still pending.
Wedding, who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics, has been accused of hiring a hit on a federal witness by posting the suspect’s photos on the now‑deleted website “The Dirty News.”
According to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the witness was later gunned down in a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, on January 31. Bondi warned that Wedding was heading “one of the most prolific and violent drug‑trafficking organizations in this world.”
Prosecutors say he smuggled roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine each year into the United States via semi‑trucks crossing from Mexico into southern California, working with the Sinaloa Cartel.
In a sweep that followed the January murder, authorities have arrested 10 individuals and brought 11 into custody, including seven Canadians, one Colombian, and a 36‑year‑old Orlando resident who is a legal permanent resident of Colombia. Wedding himself is still at large and is believed to be living in Mexico.
The State Department recently raised the bounty on Wedding’s head from $10 million to $15 million.
FBI agents continue to hunt Mexican national Bianca Canastillo‑Madrid and Montreal resident Tommy Demorizi, who is thought to be hiding in the Dominican Republic. First Assistant U.S.
Attorney Bill Essayli said the murder “was a cruel, cold‑blooded act that could not and did not go unanswered,” adding that the recent arrests show the U.S.’s determination to prosecute those involved in the criminal empire and that, if found guilty, Wedding will “never see the outside of a prison again.”
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