Mexico City, Mexico. US officials said on Friday that Canadian former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, suspected of leading a cocaine smuggling network and linked to multiple drug-related murders, has been arrested and brought to the United States to face charges.
Arrest and transfer to the United States
Speaking at a press conference at an airport east of Los Angeles, FBI Director Kash Patel said Wedding was arrested Thursday evening in Mexico City after years on the run. Patel said the FBI worked with Mexican authorities to apprehend him but did not specify how Wedding was captured.
Mexico’s security ministry said in a statement that a Canadian citizen “voluntarily surrendered” at the US embassy in Mexico on Thursday.
Allegations and FBI assessment
Patel said Wedding and his organization, working with the Sinaloa Cartel, “poured narcotics into the streets of North America.” Patel described Wedding as the “largest narco-trafficker in modern times,” comparing him to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar.
Charges and alleged trafficking operation
Wedding, 44, is on the FBI’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” list for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking network responsible for transporting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada, according to US officials. US officials have accused him of working with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and controlling an operation responsible for generating more than $1 billion a year in illegal drug proceeds.
The US government had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction, and Patel did not disclose whether the reward would be paid out.
Olympic background and murder allegations
Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The US Department of Justice said he has been charged with overseeing a criminal enterprise and various drug trafficking offenses.
The Justice Department previously said Wedding was also accused of ordering several drug-related murders, including that of a US federal witness in Colombia in January 2025 before the witness could testify against him.
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