(NEW YORK) — Ryan Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder investigators said has been leading a major drug ring, has been arrested, U.S. officials announced Friday.
The 44-year-old Canadian has been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list in connection with indictments that allege he is responsible for trafficking “multi-ton quantities of cocaine” from Colombia and connected with several murders for hire in Canada and Mexico.
“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 said in an X post. “Wedding was flown to the United States where he will face justice.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said Wedding was taken into custody Thursday night in Mexico, where he is believed to have been hiding for over a decade.
Wedding allegedly ran a transnational drug trafficking operation that “routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California to the United States and Canada — as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel,” Patel said.
Wedding was previously indicted in Los Angeles federal court on multiple federal charges, including running a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and assorted drug crimes.
A superseding indictment was filed in November, alleging that Wedding ordered the killing of a witness who was set to testify against him in a federal drug trafficking case, according to the Justice Department.
The U.S. Department of State was offering a $15 million reward for information regarding Wedding.
Prior to starting his alleged criminal enterprise, Wedding, whose alleged aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy,” was a professional snowboarder and competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
He is also facing similar charges in Canada, according to Canadian authorities.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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