Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding has been arrested in Mexico.
Wedding, 44, surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City on January 22, 2026. He was later flown to the United States, according to ABC News, the Associated Press and the BBC.
Wedding represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He finished 24th in the men’s giant parallel slalom.
U.S. authorities now accuse him of leading a large international drug trafficking operation.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the group moved cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the United States and Canada. Los Angeles was a major distribution point, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors also allege Wedding worked with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and made huge profits from the drug trade.
Wedding is further accused of ordering multiple killings linked to his operation.
These include the 2023 killing of two Canadian family members over a stolen drug shipment and another killing in 2024 over a drug debt.
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In November 2025, prosecutors said Wedding also ordered the murder of a federal witness who was due to testify against him.
FBI Director Kash Patel described Wedding as a major organised crime figure.
“He is a modern-day ‘El Chapo,’ he is the modern-day Pablo Escobar,” Patel said.
Wedding is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on January 27.
He faces charges including running a criminal enterprise, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking. If convicted on the murder charges, he could face life in prison, the Department of Justice said.
Canadian officials welcomed the arrest. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree called it “a significant step forward.”
The arrest ends a long international manhunt and marks a dramatic fall for a former Olympic athlete.