Ryan Wedding, the 44-year-old former Canadian Olympic snowboarder accused of running a multinational cocaine-trafficking empire under Sinaloa cartel protection and ordering several murders, was arrested in Mexico and flown to California on Jan. 23, 2026, ending a years-long manhunt, the FBI announced.
‘A modern-day El Chapo’
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice announced the capture in social media posts Friday morning, saying the Thunder Bay, Ont., native was being transported to the United States to “face justice.” Mexico’s security secretary said a Canadian citizen had turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City; a member of Mexico’s security cabinet, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to The Associated Press that the individual was Wedding.
Speaking on the tarmac at Ontario International Airport in California, FBI Director Kash Patel compared Wedding — “the largest narco trafficker in modern times” — to a modern-day El Chapo or Pablo Escobar. “This individual and his organization and the Sinaloa Cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America and killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our citizens,” Patel said. “And that ends today.”
Video released by the FBI showed Wedding, in light jeans, a grey long-sleeved shirt, a black quilted vest and a ball cap, stepping off a plane with his hands cuffed in front of him, expressionless as agents led him down the steps. Patel credited the Mexican government, multiple U.S. agencies and the RCMP. Officials declined to give details of the arrest but said Wedding would make his first court appearance Monday, and that others allegedly involved in the enterprise are still being sought.
From the Olympic team to the most-wanted list
Wedding competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City — a single event, the parallel giant slalom. U.S. and Canadian officials allege that in the years that followed he became deeply involved in drug trafficking. He was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and sentenced to prison in 2010.
Authorities allege that after his release he resumed trafficking under the protection of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, running an enterprise that brought cocaine from Colombia into Mexico and used semitrailers to distribute it in the United States and Canada, with Los Angeles as the primary hub. Officials said the organization shipped roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine a year through California on its way to Canada, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused Wedding of being the largest cocaine trafficker in Canada. His aliases included “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy.”
The hunt intensified last year after the FBI placed Wedding on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to US$15 million for information leading to his capture and conviction. U.S. authorities believe he had been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade.
Canadian charges and a widening case
Wedding is alleged to have ordered the murders of several people, including a witness who could testify against him in a 2024 narcotics case. Eight Canadians were arrested in November as part of the investigation, including an Ontario lawyer accused of advising the murder of a federal witness and a jeweller U.S. authorities allege was the “de facto bank” for the enterprise.
The RCMP has said Wedding also faces separate drug-trafficking charges in Canada dating back to 2015. In Ontario, provincial police have alleged that Wedding and another Canadian arrested by Mexican authorities in the fall of 2024 orchestrated the 2023 murders of a couple in Caledon, Ont., whose adult daughter was seriously injured. Police said the shooting was meant as retaliation for a stolen drug shipment but hit the wrong family — the victims were “completely innocent,” with no involvement in the drug trade.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme called the arrest a “great day for public safety in Canada,” saying the RCMP worked closely with the FBI throughout the investigation. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Ottawa welcomes the arrest, noting Canada designated seven cartels as terrorist organizations last year, including the Sinaloa Cartel.
Michael Arntfield, a former police detective who teaches at Western University, said the case has captivated Canadians partly because it is rare to see one of our own on the FBI’s most-wanted list. “It’s synonymous with Breaking Bad,” he said. “You’ve got this sort of descent into criminality that’s really out of a crime thriller.”
Not guilty — and a dispute over how he was caught
Wedding made his first U.S. court appearance on Monday, Jan. 26, in Santa Ana, Calif., where he pleaded not guilty to running the alleged billion-dollar trafficking ring and orchestrating multiple killings. Outside court, his defence attorney, Anthony Colombo, disputed the official account of the surrender: “He was arrested,” Colombo said. “He did not surrender.” The lawyer added that Wedding was living in Mexico, not hiding out there. The allegations against Wedding have not been tested in court.
