By Peter Adelowo
Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico and will be extradited to the US after years on the run, FBI Director Kash Patel has said.
Wedding, who had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved tonnes of cocaine across international borders.
Wedding, 44, was also wanted on murder charges.
US officials had said they believed Wedding was living in Mexico under the Sinaloa drug cartel’s protection.
The head of Canada’s federal police force, which assisted in the investigation, spoke alongside Patel to praise the law enforcement operation.
“No single agency or nation can combat transnational organised crime alone,” said Mike Duheme, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
“We can finally say that our communities, our countries, are much safer with the arrest of Ryan Wedding,” he added.
Wedding is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday.
Wedding is accused of running a vast drug trafficking operation responsible for importing some 60 metric tonnes of cocaine a year.
The organisation operated across North America, as well as several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and was also the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, bringing in an estimated $1bn a year.
Before he was arrested, Wedding was accused of killing a federal witness in a case against him. Officials say he has also ordered the murders of several others.
Wedding is now facing a slew of felony charges, including witness tampering and intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.
The FBI had previously placed a $15m (£11m) reward for information leading to his arrest. Patel declined to comment on whether anyone would be claiming the reward money.
US officials have not released any information regarding how Wedding was captured, except to say that his arrest took place on Thursday night in Mexico City.
Mexico’s top security official, Omar García Harfuch, said in a post on X that Patel had visited Mexico City and departed with two fugitives on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
He did not name the men arrested, but said one was a “Canadian citizen who voluntarily surrendered” at the US embassy in Mexico.
The Associated Press, citing an unnamed Mexican Security Cabinet member, reported that Wedding is the Canadian who turned himself in at the US embassy.
In his remarks at a news conference, Patel described Wedding as a “modern-day Pablo Escobar”, referring to the Colombian cartel leader. US officials have also compared him to Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in Mexico.
“When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front,” Patel said, thanking Canadian and Mexican authorities for their help in the investigation.
Wedding’s aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King” the FBI said.
He has reportedly had plastic surgery to change his appearance while on the run.
Officials allege that he launched his criminal enterprise following his release from a US federal prison in 2011, where he was serving a sentence for cocaine distribution.
Authorities allege he has ordered dozens of murders across the globe, including in the US, Canada and Latin America.
Officials say he had been living in luxury in Mexico.
In December, Mexican authorities announced that they had seized $40m in racing motorcycles owned by Wedding.
They also seized other valuable items, including luxury paintings, artworks, drugs and two Olympic gold medals.
It is unclear to whom the medals belong. Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but did not win any medals. He came in 24th place in the men’s giant parallel slalom ski event.
In November, the FBI seized his rare 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR, which had been valued at $13m.
Patel also spoke about the recent arrest of another man in Mexico who had been on the FBI’s most wanted list.
American man Alejandro Castillo was wanted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. According to the FBI, he has been in hiding in Mexico for nearly 10 years, and will now be extradited back to North Carolina for trial.
