Former Olympic Snowboarder Ryan Wedding Arrested by FBI for Drug Trafficking

One-time Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding was arrested Thursday night in Mexico on charges of multinational drug trafficking and conspiring to kill a federal witness.

Prior to his arrest, Wedding had earned a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. The 44-year-old is accused of not only helming and overseeing a sweeping drug trafficking operation, but also orchestrating the killings of multiple people.

A $15 million reward had previously been promised to anyone with information regarding his whereabouts and illegal operations that could lead to his arrest.

Both FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wedding’s arrest on social media Friday. Back in November, Bondi announced that Wedding had additionally been indicted on charges concerning the orchestrated killing of a federal witness in Colombia.

Authorities claim that Wedding and his collaborators posted a photograph of the witness in question on a Canadian website known as “The Dirty News” in order to allow him to be identified and killed. The witness was subsequently shot in the head in January in a Medellín restaurant.

“This operation is the result of tremendous cooperation and team work with the Government of Mexico,” Patel wrote in an X post Friday celebrating Wedding’s arrest. “This is a huge day for a safer North America, and the world, and a message that those who break our laws and harm our citizens will be brought to justice.” The FBI Director praised Bondi for her “relentless pursuit of justice.”

Wedding was taken into federal custody in Mexico, where authorities believe he had been hiding out for over a decade. He is in the midst of being transported from Mexico to the U.S., where Patel says he will “face justice” for his crimes.

In 2024, Wedding was charged with running a drug trafficking operation involving semi-trucks that were used to transport cocaine between Colombia, Mexico, Canada and Southern California. He also has drug trafficking charges on his record in Canada that date back to 2015.

In 2010, Wedding was convicted and sentenced to prison in the U.S. on charges accusing him of conspiring to distribute cocaine. After he was released from prison, federal prosecutors suspect that Wedding resumed his previous drug operations — this time under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel. His purported criminal aliases include “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy” and “James Conrad Kin.”

“This is the SIXTH Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive this FBI has captured within a year,” Patel wrote Friday. “That’s no accident. President Trump is letting good cops be cops and the results speak for themselves.” The FBI Director is expected to hold a news conference Friday regarding Wedding’s arrest.

Before he became one of the FBI’s most sought-after criminals, Wedding represented his home country of Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics, where he competed in one men’s snowboarding event and placed 24th in the competition.

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