Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico, capping off a yearslong manhunt and dealing what U.S. officials called a significant blow to a violent criminal network that has endangered communities across several borders.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice first announced Wedding’s capture in social media posts Friday morning, saying the 44-year-old fugitive was being transported to the United States to “face justice.”
Later in the morning, FBI Director Kash Patel touted the arrest as a testament to the importance of international and domestic collaboration, listing the Mexican government, multiple U.S. agencies and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as key players in the operation.
Speaking from the tarmac at California’s Ontario International Airport, Patel compared Wedding — whom he dubbed “the largest narco trafficker in modern times” — to a modern-day El Chapo or Pablo Escobar, referring to the notorious Mexican and Colombian drug lords.
“This individual and his organization in the Sinaloa Cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America and killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our citizens,” Patel said.
“And that ends today.”
Officials declined to give details of the arrest, citing the ongoing investigation, but said Wedding was in custody and would make his first appearance in court on Monday.
Wedding, who authorities said has been on the run for years, is alleged to have ordered the murders of several people, including a witness who could testify against him in a 2024 narcotics case.
The hunt for the Thunder Bay, Ont., native intensified last year after U.S. officials placed Wedding on the FBI’s Top 10 most-wanted list and put up a $15-million reward for information leading to his capture.
Wedding competed for Canada as a snowboarder in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Canadian and American law enforcement officials allege that in the years that followed the Salt Lake City games, he became deeply involved in drug trafficking.
He was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010. U.S. authorities have alleged that after Wedding’s release from prison, he resumed drug trafficking under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
U.S. court documents said Wedding’s drug trafficking enterprise brought cocaine from Colombia into Mexico, then used semitrailers to distribute the drug in the United States and Canada. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused Wedding of being the largest cocaine trafficker in Canada.
Eight Canadians were arrested in November as part of the ongoing investigation into Wedding, including an Ontario lawyer accused of advising the murder of a federal witness and a jeweller who U.S. authorities allege was the “de facto bank” for the criminal enterprise.
The RCMP have said that Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press.
The Canadian Press
