FBI director confirms arrest of Canadian ex-Olympian and fugitive Ryan Wedding

Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, accused of running an international drug ring, has been arrested in Mexico, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed Friday.

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post that Wedding was taken into custody Thursday night and is being transported from Mexico to the United States to "face justice."

The operation was carried out in collaboration with the Mexican government and with the support of several federal U.S. departments, he said.

"This is a huge day for a safer North America, and the world, and a message that those who break our laws and harm our citizens will be brought to justice," Patel wrote.

Wedding, who authorities said has been on the run for years, is alleged to have ordered the murders of several people, including a witness who could testify against him in a 2024 narcotics case.

The hunt for the 44-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., intensified last year after U.S. officials placed Wedding on the FBI's Top 10 most-wanted list and put up a $15-million reward for information leading to his capture.

Wedding competed for Canada as a snowboarder in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Canadian and American law enforcement officials allege that in the years that followed the Salt Lake City games, he became deeply involved in drug trafficking. 

He was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010. U.S. authorities have alleged that after Wedding's release from prison, he resumed drug trafficking under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

U.S. court documents said Wedding's drug trafficking enterprise brought cocaine from Colombia into Mexico, then used semitrailers to distribute the drug in the United States and Canada. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused Wedding of being the largest cocaine trafficker in Canada. 

Eight Canadians were arrested in November as part of the ongoing investigation into Wedding, including an Ontario lawyer accused of advising the murder of a federal witness and a jeweller who U.S. authorities allege was the "de facto bank" for the criminal enterprise.

The RCMP have said that Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015.

Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File