Ex-Olympic Snowboarder Ryan Wedding Arrested
Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives, has been arrested. US media reports he faces charges for running a transnational drug trafficking network.
Fugitive Life and Arrest
Wedding, 44, had been on the run for years. US officials believe he was living in Mexico under protection from the Sinaloa cartel. The FBI will provide further details at a news conference at 11:00 EST (16:00 GMT) in California.
Criminal Enterprise
Authorities say his operation spanned North America and other countries. It was reportedly the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, generating about $1 billion a year.
He allegedly ordered the murder of a federal witness in a prior case and has faced accusations of dozens of killings across the US, Canada, and Latin America. Wedding’s charges include drug trafficking, money laundering, witness tampering, intimidation, and murder.
FBI and Law Enforcement
The FBI offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Officials have compared Wedding to infamous drug kingpins like Pablo Escobar and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. His known aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King.”
Wedding reportedly built his criminal empire after his release from a US federal prison in 2011, where he served time for cocaine distribution.
