Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico and is expected to be extradited to the United States after years on the run, the FBI has said.
What we know about the arrest in Mexico City
Wedding, 44, had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved tonnes of cocaine across international borders, according to the BBC.
US officials allege that Wedding was also wanted on murder charges, with authorities previously saying they believed he was living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
Mexico’s top security official, Omar García Harfuch, said on X that FBI Director Kash Patel visited Mexico City on Thursday and departed with two fugitives from the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, though he did not name them.
The BBC also reports that US officials expect Wedding to make his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Monday.
The allegations: cocaine trafficking, money laundering and murder charges
The FBI accuses Wedding of running a vast drug trafficking operation that imported about 60 metric tonnes of cocaine a year, with activity across North America and several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
US officials also alleged that the organisation was a major supplier of cocaine to Canada, bringing in an estimated $1bn a year.
On the criminal case, Wedding faces felony charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, and witness tampering and intimidation.
At a news conference after the arrest, Canada’s federal police highlighted the cross-border nature of the operation.
“No single agency or nation can combat transnational organised crime alone,” said Mike Duheme, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Duheme added: “We can finally say that our communities, our countries, are much safer with the arrest of Ryan Wedding.”
Patel also emphasised international coordination, saying: “When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front.”
From the Olympics to the Ten Most Wanted list
Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and did not win a medal, placing 24th in the men’s giant parallel slalom event.
After his Olympic appearance, Wedding’s trajectory shifted sharply, with later criminal investigations and court outcomes forming part of the narrative prosecutors now rely on.
Patel compared Wedding to historic cartel figures, describing him as “the modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar” and “the modern-day iteration of El Chapo Guzmán.”
However, a Mexico-based security analyst quoted by The Guardian challenged that framing.
“There’s no indication [Wedding] controls territory,” said Stephen Woodman, describing key differences between Wedding and cartel leadership structures.
Moreover, while US authorities have referenced an alleged 60-tonne figure, that number “does not appear in the indictment”, Woodman elaborated.
Wedding is expected to be extradited to the United States, where the legal process will determine the strength of the case against him, the admissibility of evidence and whether prosecutors can prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
