In a significant law enforcement breakthrough, Ryan Wedding—a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who ascended to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list—was apprehended Friday in Mexico following an extensive multinational manhunt. The 44-year-old athlete-turned-alleged-crime-boss faces severe charges including multinational drug trafficking and orchestrating the murder of a federal witness.
Wedding is accused of masterminding a sophisticated narcotics network that utilized semitrucks to transport cocaine across international borders between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California, and Canada. Operating under aliases including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad Kin,” his criminal enterprise allegedly employed extreme violence to maintain operations, including multiple homicides tied to drug activities.
The arrest, confirmed by anonymous sources familiar with the investigation, culminates years of pursuit by international authorities. The U.S. Department of Justice had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture and conviction.
According to federal indictments, Wedding orchestrated the January assassination of a witness in Medellín, Colombia, to prevent extradition to the United States. Prosecutors allege he and accomplices used Canadian website “The Dirty News” to publish the victim’s photograph before the fatal restaurant shooting.
The former Olympian, who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, previously served a prison sentence for cocaine distribution conspiracy in 2010. He additionally faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada dating to 2015.
FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to formally announce the arrest at a California press conference Friday morning, marking the conclusion of one of the bureau’s highest-profile fugitive investigations.