Ryan Wedding, the 44-year-old former Canadian Olympic snowboarder accused of leading a large-scale cocaine trafficking operation and orchestrating multiple murders in Canada and Mexico, was arrested Thursday night in Mexico and flown to the United States, reports Baltimore Chronicle via ABC News. Authorities said Wedding had been evading capture for over a decade and was on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list for transporting multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Colombia to Canada and committing violent crimes connected to his criminal enterprise.
Wedding surrendered after weeks of high-stakes negotiations and turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team participated in securing and transporting him to the U.S., officials said. The operation was conducted in close coordination with Mexican law enforcement.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the arrest, stating that Wedding “was flown to the United States where he will face justice.” FBI Director Kash Patel, who happened to be in Mexico City on a preplanned trip, announced that the operation’s details remain sensitive but confirmed the former Olympian was in custody.
Wedding, whose alleged aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” faces multiple federal charges, including running a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder in connection with organized crime, and large-scale drug trafficking. Authorities claim his network shipped approximately 60 metric tons of cocaine through Southern California to Canada. A superseding indictment in November also accused him of ordering the killing of a witness prepared to testify against him in federal court.
Canadian authorities collaborated closely with the FBI throughout the investigation. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme described the arrest as a “significant achievement in public safety” and highlighted the importance of international law enforcement cooperation. In addition to Wedding’s arrest, authorities have taken into custody 36 other individuals alleged to be involved in his criminal organization, with additional arrests still pending. The FBI is offering a $2 million reward for information leading to further captures, while the U.S. State Department had previously offered a $15 million reward for tips related to Wedding’s apprehension.
Before his alleged criminal career, Wedding competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in the men’s parallel giant slalom snowboarding event. The arrest marks the conclusion of a years-long investigation into what U.S. and Canadian officials describe as one of the largest transnational drug trafficking operations linked to a former athlete.
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