Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, has been apprehended after evading authorities for an extensive period, as per a report by NBC News.
The 44-year-old Wedding was a wanted fugitive, suspected of heading a large-scale international drug-trafficking network that facilitated the transportation of significant amounts of cocaine across the U.S.–Mexico border. It is alleged that he managed a route capable of smuggling around 60 metric tons of cocaine annually into the Los Angeles region via semitrucks operating from Mexico.
After being listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in March, a reward of $15 million was offered for any information leading to his capture or prosecution, marking one of the largest rewards ever associated with a fugitive with Canadian connections.
FBI Director Kash Patel drew parallels between Wedding and infamous cartel leaders like Pablo Escobar and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, citing the scale of the drug operation and the violence linked to it.
While the circumstances of Wedding’s arrest remain undisclosed, NBC News mentions the involvement of multiple agencies in the operation.
Details surrounding Wedding’s capture are expected to be revealed by Patel during a press conference scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m.
Wedding, who represented Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, transitioned from sports to illicit activities post his sporting career. Investigators claim that he established a drug empire described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as “one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations globally.”
Recent indictments from November accuse Wedding of orchestrating the murder of a federal witness, who was fatally shot five times in the head before testifying against him. Among the seven individuals arrested in Canada was Wedding’s attorney, Deepak Paradkar, who allegedly advised him to eliminate the witness.