From Olympic Snowboarder to Cartel Kingpin

About this episode

The episode explores the transformation of a Canadian Olympic hopeful into a drug cartel lieutenant.

A Canadian Olympic hopeful walks away from the slopes and into the heart of a violent international drug cartel. Rhys and Jesse trace Ryan James Wedlake’s path from Thunder Bay ski kid to Sinaloa lieutenant, weaving together family privilege, failed glory at Salt Lake City, cannabis grow ops, Hawala money transfers, and FBI most‑wanted status—plus an eventual takedown that netted tonnes of cocaine and millions in assets. For premium content, socials, merch, to leave a voicemail or message us go to canadaisboring.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Jesse Harley, Rhys Waters

Topics covered

• drug cartel
• Olympic athlete
• crime
• Canada
• family privilege
• cannabis
• law enforcement

Keywords

• Ryan James Wedlake
• drug cartel
• Olympic snowboarder
• cannabis grow ops
• FBI
• Sinaloa
• money transfers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FBI

Places: Thunder Bay, Sinaloa

More episodes of Canada is Boring

• Shrinking PP · June 8, 2026 · 47 min
• The Psychic Scam King · June 1, 2026 · 41 min
• CSIS, Oil, and the Pipeline Protestors (Premium) · May 25, 2026 · 5 min
• Bear-Proof Dreams: The Legend of Troy Hurtubise · May 18, 2026 · 46 min
• Red Ryan: Canada’s Fake Reformed Gangster · May 11, 2026 · 38 min
• Our 2026 Show Trailer · May 6, 2026 · 1 min