Olympic Snowboarder Ryan Wedding Arrested In Mexico

Ryan James Wedding, once celebrated as a Canadian Olympic snowboarder, now stands at the center of one of North America’s most sensational criminal sagas. After nearly a year on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Wedding, 44, was arrested in Mexico City on the night of January 22, 2026. His dramatic surrender at the U.S. embassy capped a decade-long manhunt that spanned continents and involved a dizzying array of law enforcement agencies from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, as reported by ABC News, Associated Press, and BBC.

Wedding’s story is as improbable as it is disturbing. Once competing for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he finished 24th in the men’s giant parallel slalom, he later became the alleged mastermind behind a billion-dollar, multinational drug trafficking network. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, his organization moved as much as 60 metric tons of cocaine annually from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California, with Los Angeles serving as the primary distribution hub before the drugs reached Canada and other U.S. states (Associated Press).

Authorities allege that Wedding’s operation, protected by Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, was the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, generating an estimated $1 billion a year. As BBC notes, U.S. officials believe Wedding lived in luxury in Mexico, surrounded by the trappings of his illicit wealth—including a rare 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR Roadster, valued at $13 million, and $40 million worth of racing motorcycles seized by Mexican authorities in December. Other assets—luxury paintings, artwork, and even two Olympic gold medals (though Wedding did not win any at the Olympics)—were also confiscated.

But the gravity of the allegations against Wedding extends far beyond drug smuggling. Federal prosecutors accuse him of orchestrating and ordering multiple murders, including the 2023 killing of two Canadian family members in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment and a 2024 murder over a drug debt. In perhaps the most chilling accusation, a superseding indictment filed in November 2025 claims Wedding ordered the murder of a federal witness who was set to testify against him in a U.S. drug trafficking case. According to Associated Press, the witness was identified via a Canadian website and then followed to a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, where he was shot in the head in January 2026.

Wedding’s criminal career, authorities allege, began in earnest after his release from a U.S. federal prison in 2011, where he served time for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He then launched a criminal enterprise that, according to BBC, operated with ruthless efficiency and violence across North America and Latin America. His aliases—"El Jefe," "Giant," "Public Enemy," "James Conrad Kin," "James Conrad King," and "Jesse King"—reflect both the scope of his operations and his efforts to evade capture, which reportedly included undergoing plastic surgery to alter his appearance.

The international pursuit of Wedding was a massive undertaking. FBI Director Kash Patel, speaking at a news conference in Ontario, California, did not mince words: “He is a modern-day 'El Chapo,' he is the modern-day Pablo Escobar. And he thought he could evade justice.” Patel emphasized the unprecedented level of coordination among law enforcement agencies, stating, “When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front, and that’s what you’re seeing here.”

Indeed, the operation included the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and top Mexican officials, including President Claudia Sheinbaum and Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch. Patel praised their “extraordinary teamwork, precision, and trust,” describing the operation as “complex, high-stakes…with zero margin for error,” as quoted in Vanity Fair and BBC.

The arrest itself was almost anticlimactic, considering the years of pursuit. After weeks of negotiation, Wedding voluntarily surrendered at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City. The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team was present to ensure the transfer went smoothly, and Wedding was flown to Ontario International Airport in Southern California on the morning of January 23, 2026. “A direct result of pressure applied by Mexican and U.S. law enforcement working in close coordination and cooperation,” the U.S. Embassy in Mexico said in a statement (ABC News).

Wedding is now expected to appear in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, January 27, 2026. He faces a slew of felony charges, including running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, witness tampering and intimidation, money laundering, and assorted drug crimes. If convicted on the murder charges, he could face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison (Department of Justice).

The magnitude of Wedding’s criminal network is underscored by the scale of the law enforcement response. Akil Davis, head of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, revealed that 36 people have been arrested in connection with Wedding’s drug ring, and authorities have seized vast quantities of drugs, weapons, cash, automobiles, motorcycles, artwork, and jewelry. The U.S. Department of State, reflecting the urgency and danger of the hunt, had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest and prosecution.

Wedding’s arrest has been hailed as a significant victory in the international fight against organized crime. Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s minister of public safety, called it “a significant step forward.” Mike Duheme, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, echoed this sentiment: “No single agency or nation can combat transnational organised crime alone. We can finally say that our communities, our countries, are much safer with the arrest of Ryan Wedding.”

Meanwhile, the operation also netted another major fugitive. Alejandro Rosales Castillo, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen wanted for murder in North Carolina, was apprehended in Mexico a week prior and will be extradited to face trial in the United States. This, too, was cited by U.S. officials as evidence of the growing cooperation among North American law enforcement agencies.

As the legal process now unfolds, the world watches to see whether justice will be served in a case that has all the makings of a crime thriller—athletic glory, international intrigue, staggering wealth, and chilling violence. For now, Ryan James Wedding’s arrest marks the end of a long, dangerous chase and the beginning of what promises to be one of the most closely watched criminal trials in recent memory.