Canadian alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been added to the FBI's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives, as the reward offered for information leading to his arrest has been raised to $10 million US.

The FBI and U.S. State Department made the announcements at a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, raising the stakes in a manhunt first launched by the RCMP in 2015.

Wedding, who competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Olympic Games in Utah, faces U.S. federal charges related to three murders, a cocaine trafficking conspiracy and for "leading a continuing criminal enterprise."

The L.A. Police Department said Wedding's alleged network used the city as its primary transport hub to move vast quantities of drugs, including "five metric tonnes of fentanyl per month" to U.S. and Canadian cities. 

"The increase in the reward should make it clear: there is nowhere safe for Wedding to hide," LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters.

The FBI also released a new photo of Wedding, 43, in a blue baseball cap and displaying prominent tattoos and a gold watch on one arm. The FBI declined to say where the picture was taken, but said Wedding is believed to be living in Mexico, under the protection of the notorious Sinaloa cartel.

"Wedding, who is wealthy, is dangerous and has connections in very high places," said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.