FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive Ryan James Wedding, captured after years on the run, is shown in photos from 2024 and summer 2025.
By Gina Hill | Alaska Headline Living | January 2026
Ryan James Wedding, once a promising Canadian Olympic snowboarder, is now in federal custody in the United States after a dramatic international manhunt that ended with his arrest in Mexico.
Wedding, 44, who represented Canada in the men’s parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics, allegedly swapped his snowboard for smuggling routes and cartel contacts, building what U.S. officials describe as a sprawling and violent drug trafficking empire.
According to law enforcement authorities, Wedding moved far beyond the world of competitive sport into serious crime, allegedly running one of the largest transnational cocaine operations in recent history. His network is accused of shipping massive quantities of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California before distributing it into the United States and Canada.
Federal prosecutors allege that under aliases like “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “Giant,” Wedding worked closely with Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel and used long-haul semitrucks to transport up to 60 tons of cocaine a year.
The case took an even darker turn with accusations that Wedding ordered multiple murders to protect his criminal enterprise. U.S. authorities believe he placed a multimillion-dollar bounty on a key witness cooperating with law enforcement, resulting in a fatal shooting in Medellín, Colombia. Other killings tied to his operation in Ontario, Canada, were also detailed in court filings.
Federal prosecutors first charged Wedding in 2024 with conspiracy to distribute and export cocaine, operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and murder in connection with drug crimes. A federal grand jury returned indictments that included allegations of witness tampering and intimidation.
Before his life turned toward crime, Wedding had earlier faced legal trouble in 2008 when he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in the United States and served time in federal prison. After his release in 2011, authorities say he rebuilt and expanded his criminal network.
The FBI and U.S. State Department at one point offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his capture, making him one of the highest-profile fugitives on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
FBI Director Kash Patel, speaking after the arrest, called Wedding a “modern-day El Chapo” and highlighted the agency’s global cooperation with Mexican, Canadian, and Colombian authorities that made the arrest possible.
Wedding is now in U.S. custody and is expected to face federal prosecution in California on a string of charges that could carry life sentences if he is convicted.
