From Olympic Heights to Cartel Kingpin: Ryan James Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization Dismantled

From the Olympic podium to the FBI's Most Wanted list—it's a downfall of cinematic proportions. Ryan James Wedding, the former snowboarding star who once represented Canada, was arrested in Mexico on Thursday night, January 22, 2026, ending a decade-long manhunt for the man officials call a modern-day narco-terrorist.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics competitor. Wedding is allegedly the mastermind behind a massive transnational drug trafficking operation that funneled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. and Canada. Patel didn't mince words, describing Wedding as a "modern-day El Chapo" who leveraged his international connections to build a criminal empire while hiding in Mexico for over a decade.

Inside the Ryan James Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization

The scale of the operation was enormous. According to the FBI, Wedding was a key figure in the Sinaloa cartel, overseeing a logistics network that moved drugs from Colombia through Mexico to Southern California. But the charges go beyond narcotics. Wedding is accused of ordering multiple executions to protect his interests and intimidate witnesses.

• In November 2023, he allegedly ordered the retaliatory murder of two family members in Caledon, Ontario, over a stolen shipment.
• In January 2025, he reportedly put a bounty on a federal witness who was subsequently gunned down in Medellín, Colombia.

A Global Takedown of 36 Associates

The arrest wasn't an isolated incident. The FBI's Los Angeles field office announced that 36 people linked to the Ryan James Wedding drug trafficking organization have been taken into custody. Wedding, who was added to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list in March 2025, is expected to face a judge on Monday morning.