Olympic Snowboarder Ryan Wedding Arrested In Mexico

Ryan Wedding’s life has taken a turn so dramatic, even Hollywood might balk at the script. Once a professional snowboarder representing Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics, Wedding, now 44, found himself at the center of a globe-spanning manhunt that ended Thursday night, January 22, 2026, with his arrest in Mexico City. The former Olympian, who finished 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom in Salt Lake City, now faces a raft of serious charges, including running a multinational drug trafficking ring, orchestrating murders, and working with one of the world’s most notorious cartels.

According to the Associated Press, Wedding’s capture was the culmination of over a year of coordinated efforts involving U.S. investigators and authorities from Mexico, Canada, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. FBI Director Kash Patel, speaking at Ontario International Airport in California, described the operation as a model of international cooperation. “When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front, and that’s what you’re seeing here,” Patel said, crediting the teamwork that led to Wedding’s downfall.

Wedding’s criminal saga began after his release from a U.S. prison, where he had served time for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, a conviction handed down in 2010. Federal prosecutors re-indicted him in 2024, alleging he had risen to lead a vast drug ring, protected by the Sinaloa Cartel—one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations. The scale of his alleged operations is staggering: authorities accuse him of trafficking approximately 60 metric tons of cocaine from Colombia into Canada, using Southern California as a key transit point. Semitrucks, authorities say, were his vehicles of choice for moving massive quantities of drugs across borders.

The FBI’s Los Angeles field office, led by Assistant Director Akil Davis, has been at the forefront of the investigation. Davis told reporters, “Ryan Wedding tormented several people and several families that will never be the same, but today they get the justice that they sought.” The criminal enterprise Wedding is accused of running was not just about drugs. According to the Justice Department, he is also believed to have orchestrated multiple murders, including the killing of a federal witness in Colombia in January 2025. Prosecutors allege that Wedding and his co-conspirators posted a photograph of the witness to a Canadian website, enabling assassins to identify and kill the individual in a Medellín restaurant.

Wedding’s aliases read like a villain’s dossier: “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad Kin.” Authorities say he operated with the kind of reach and ruthlessness reminiscent of infamous drug lords. “He’s the modern-day El Chapo. He is the modern-day Pablo Escobar,” Patel declared during a press conference, drawing a direct line between Wedding and the likes of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Pablo Escobar, both legendary figures in the annals of organized crime.

His arrest was a dramatic affair. After more than a decade in hiding, Wedding surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City following weeks of high-stakes negotiations, as reported by ABC News. The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team was involved in taking him into custody and transporting him back to the United States. Patel, who happened to be in Mexico City for a preplanned trip, was present for the operation. “At my direction, Department of Justice agents @FBI have apprehended yet another member of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List: Ryan Wedding, the onetime Olympian snowboarder-turned alleged violent cocaine kingpin,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a statement on X.

Wedding was featured prominently on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List, with a $15 million reward offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Authorities have already arrested 36 people in connection with his alleged criminal organization and seized millions in cash, drugs, weapons, motorcycles, artwork, jewelry, and other valuables. The FBI is still seeking additional suspects, offering a $2 million reward for information leading to further arrests.

The scale of the operation is underscored by the numbers. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell detailed the seizures made during the investigation: “more than 20,300 kilograms of cocaine, 44 kilograms of methamphetamine, 44 kilograms of fentanyl, eight firearms, and over $55 million in illicit assets.” The FBI, under Patel’s leadership, has made 67,000 arrests in 2025 alone—a 200% increase from previous years, according to Fox News. Six of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted fugitives were captured in 2025, two more than the prior administration managed in the same timeframe.

Patel also highlighted broader crime-fighting successes under President Donald Trump’s administration. The FBI seized enough fentanyl in 2025 to kill 150 million Americans, a 31% increase from previous years. Arrests of foreign espionage actors from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran rose by 35%. The agency also found and identified 6,000 missing children, a 22% increase, and the U.S. murder rate dropped by 20% during the same period. “All of these historic record-breaking numbers lead to another historic record-breaking number brought to you by President Trump's leadership,” Patel asserted.

Wedding’s legal troubles are far from over. In addition to the U.S. charges, he faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada dating back to 2015, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court on Monday, January 26, 2026. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles holds jurisdiction over his case, and a superseding indictment filed in November 2025 alleges he ordered the killing of a witness set to testify against him in a federal drug trafficking case.

As the dust settles, the story of Ryan Wedding stands as a cautionary tale of fame, hubris, and the long reach of law enforcement. What began as a promising athletic career on the slopes of Salt Lake City has ended in a dramatic fall from grace, with the eyes of the world now watching to see what fate awaits the man once known for his speed and skill—now infamous for his crimes.