Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding was arrested in Mexico after more than a decade of evading law enforcement over allegations of large-scale drug trafficking.
Wedding, who once represented Canada in the Olympics, had been placed on the FBI’s most wanted list, with authorities offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest. He has been compared by investigators to notorious drug traffickers Pablo Escobar and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“He went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco trafficker in modern times,” FFBI Director Kash Patel said in announcing the arrest. “He thought he could evade justice.”
Patel said he traveled to Mexico City to oversee a “zero-margin, high risk operation” that involved the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and ultimately resulted in Wedding’s arrest.
A social media post by Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch suggested that Wedding surrendered voluntarily. García said Patel departed Mexico on Friday with two fugitives wanted in the United States, referring to Wedding as “a Canadian citizen who voluntarily surrendered yesterday at the U.S. embassy.” The second individual was later identified by Patel as Alejandro Rosales Castillo, another fugitive sought by the FBI.
Wedding was charged in federal court in Los Angeles in 2024. Prosecutors have accused him of leading “the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.” Authorities allege he worked with drug cartels to move cocaine from Colombia into Mexico and then into both Canada and the US.
He is also accused of recruiting assassins to kill “perceived rivals, disfavored people, and supposed cooperators,” according to prosecutors. Federal authorities further allege that Wedding played a role in the killing of a witness who was previously scheduled to testify against him, according to the Washington Post.
Wedding, who once represented Canada in the Olympics, had been placed on the FBI’s most wanted list, with authorities offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest. He has been compared by investigators to notorious drug traffickers Pablo Escobar and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“He went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco trafficker in modern times,” FFBI Director Kash Patel said in announcing the arrest. “He thought he could evade justice.”
Patel said he traveled to Mexico City to oversee a “zero-margin, high risk operation” that involved the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and ultimately resulted in Wedding’s arrest.
A social media post by Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch suggested that Wedding surrendered voluntarily. García said Patel departed Mexico on Friday with two fugitives wanted in the United States, referring to Wedding as “a Canadian citizen who voluntarily surrendered yesterday at the U.S. embassy.” The second individual was later identified by Patel as Alejandro Rosales Castillo, another fugitive sought by the FBI.
Wedding was charged in federal court in Los Angeles in 2024. Prosecutors have accused him of leading “the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.” Authorities allege he worked with drug cartels to move cocaine from Colombia into Mexico and then into both Canada and the US.
He is also accused of recruiting assassins to kill “perceived rivals, disfavored people, and supposed cooperators,” according to prosecutors. Federal authorities further allege that Wedding played a role in the killing of a witness who was previously scheduled to testify against him, according to the Washington Post.
