Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder who competed for Canada in 2002 and was later accused of leading a massive cocaine operation, has been arrested.
Per sources cited in an Associated Press report on Friday (Jan. 23), Wedding was taken into custody in Mexico, though initial details on the arrest remained scarce as of this writing. Additional details are expected at a forthcoming FBI press conference.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the arrest shortly after, saying in an X post that Wedding “was flown to the United States where he will face justice.”
In November, U.S. officials announced an increase in the reward for Wedding, who is among those on the FBI’s 10 Most-Wanted Fugitives list, bringing the amount to $15 million. At a press conference that month, U.S. and Canadian officials likened Wedding, an accused “transnational narcotics trafficker,” to both El Chapo and Pablo Escobar.
According to previous remarks from Bondi, 44-year-old Wedding, also accused of ordering a hit on a federal witness and other killings, “controls one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations” in the world.
“Ryan James 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,” the FBI says in its Most-Wanted listed for Wedding. “Additionally, it is alleged that Wedding was involved in orchestrating multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes.”
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Wedding came in 24th in the Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom competition. Eight years later, Wedding signed a sentencing agreement that led to a reduced sentence following his 2009 arrest on cocaine-related charges in a separate case.
