Former Canadian Olympian On FBI Most Wanted List Arrested
Mexican authorities have arrested Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who had been one of the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives, over allegations linking him to an international drug trafficking network and the murder of a federal witness, U.S. officials announced on Friday. The 44-year-old Wedding was taken into custody late Thursday in Mexico after years on the run, according to AP. He is accused by U.S. prosecutors of leading a large-scale narcotics operation spanning Colombia, Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and of ordering multiple killings to protect the criminal enterprise. A reward of up to $15 million had been offered for information leading to his capture. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest in separate social media posts. Patel said Wedding was already being transferred to U.S. custody, describing the development as a major step toward regional security. “Those who think they can hide from justice indefinitely are wrong,” Patel wrote. According to Mexico’s Security Secretary, Omar García Harfuch, U.S. and Mexican officials coordinated closely in the operation. He disclosed that two high-profile detainees were handed over following meetings with U.S. officials in Mexico, including a Canadian citizen who surrendered at the U.S. Embassy. A Mexican security official, speaking anonymously, identified that individual as Wedding. Wedding represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, competing in the men’s parallel giant slalom snowboarding event, where he placed 24th. Years later, authorities say, he reinvented himself as a major figure in organized crime, operating under aliases such as “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy” and “James Conrad Kin.” U.S. prosecutors allege that Wedding used commercial trucks to move cocaine across borders, funneling drugs from Colombia through Mexico into Southern California and onward to Canada. In 2024, he was formally charged in the United States for his alleged role in the trafficking ring. Later that year, prosecutors expanded the case, accusing Wedding of masterminding the killing of a cooperating witness in Colombia to derail extradition efforts. Investigators say members of the network used a Canadian-based website, “The Dirty News,” to publish the witness’s photograph, enabling hitmen to identify him. The witness was later tracked to a restaurant in Medellín and fatally shot in January. Canadian authorities have also been seeking Wedding. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said he has faced separate drug trafficking charges in Canada since 2015. This was not Wedding’s first encounter with U.S. law enforcement. Federal records show he was convicted in 2010 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and served a prison sentence. Prosecutors believe that after his release, he returned to the drug trade, allegedly operating with protection from Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. Wedding is expected to face prosecution in the United States as extradition proceedings move forward.
