Justice Department and FBI announce new charges and reward for Ryan’s wedding
Canadian former Olympian snowboarder Ryan Wedding faces new charges in the United States for allegedly running a cocaine empire tied to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged cocaine kingpin whom FBI Director Kash Patel compared to Pablo Escobar, was arrested on Friday, January 23, after an “extensive” international investigation. He was wanted on multiple murder and money laundering charges introduced over the past two years in connection with drug trafficking into the United States.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the wedding will be flown to the United States and “will stand trial there.” FBI officials said at a news conference Friday announcing Wedding’s arrest at Southern California’s Ontario International Airport that the 44-year-old is expected to remain in custody over the weekend pending his first court appearance Monday morning.
Law enforcement has been searching for Mr. Wedding for years due to suspected ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, but his dark turn from world-class Olympic athlete to notorious fugitive to drug trafficker appears to have happened long ago.
“He went from being an Olympic snowboarder to being the biggest drug trafficker of our time,” Patel said at a press conference.
Here, we detail Wedding’s transformation from Olympic snowboarder to international drug trafficker, including the federal charges that led to his eventual arrest on January 23rd.
What crime will Ryan Wedding be charged with?
Wedding, along with 15 co-conspirators, was charged in a superseding indictment filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in October 2024 with eight felonies for “running and participating in a cross-border drug trafficking operation that transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and other locations in the United States, and whose leaders orchestrated multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes.”
Wedding was formally charged with two counts of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug offenses, and one count of attempted murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug offenses.
Wedding was also charged in the original indictment with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiracy to possess, distribute, and export cocaine.
The Trump administration then unsealed another wedding-related indictment in November 2025, charging him with nine more criminal acts related to witness intimidation, money laundering, and murder. Bondi said at the time that Wedding was Canada’s largest cocaine distributor, importing 60 tons of cocaine into the United States from Mexico each year and generating annual profits of $1 billion.
According to the Department of Justice, Wedding and a co-conspirator are specifically charged with orchestrating the drug-related murders of two families in Ontario, Canada, on November 20, 2023, and ordering the murder of another victim over a drug debt in Canada on May 18, 2024. Wedding’s most recent indictment includes an allegation that he ordered the murder of an employee in Colombia in January 2025.
Akil Davis, deputy director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said Friday that “Ryan Wedding has caused suffering to so many people and so many families, and it will never be the same.”
Ryan’s Wedding FBI Most Wanted
Wedding was added to the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list in March 2025. Initially, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement had offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest and/or conviction. It was later increased to $15 million in November by the U.S. Department of State.
Where was Ryan Wedding arrested?
Patel announced Friday that Wedding was arrested on Thursday night, January 22, in Mexico City. Citing the need to “maximize operational security,” he declined to provide details about how Wedding was arrested or whether anyone received the $15 million reward.
Los Angeles was considered by law enforcement authorities to be the center of Wedding’s drug distribution network. But Mr. Wedding was for years believed to be hiding out in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which is believed to be connected to his drug-trafficking operations. A previous Justice Department indictment identified him as a Canadian citizen living in Mexico.
In a social media post announcing Wedding’s arrest on January 23, Bondi thanked U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson and Mexican authorities for their assistance in the case. She also noted that Mr. Wedding was flown to the United States to face criminal charges.
Ryan Wedding’s motorcycle seized
On December 29, 2025, the FBI announced that Mexican authorities executed multiple search warrants and seized dozens of motorcycles valued at more than $40 million that were believed to belong to Wedding. Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Civil Protection said the items included 62 “luxury” motorcycles, two vehicles, artwork, two Olympic medals and drugs.
Has Ryan Wedding been arrested before?
yes.
Wedding was arrested in June 2008 on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. An affidavit in the case detailed how Wedding and his associates traveled from Canada to San Diego as part of a Vancouver-based drug trafficking organization, according to CNN. However, the drug deal was a sting operation, and FBI agents arrested Wedding and two others, and investigators found $100,000 in cash in the hotel room.
Wedding was convicted in November 2009 and sentenced to four years in prison in 2010, CNN reported. He was released in December 2011.
Ryan Wedding, Olympic snowboarder
Wedding, a native of Thunder Bay, Ont., first competed as a member of Canada’s national snowboarding team in 1997 and spent the next five years competing in events around the world, culminating in a 2002 Olympic appearance in Salt Lake City. Wedding finished 24th in the snowboard parallel giant slalom at the Winter Olympics, and his competitive career ended shortly thereafter.
According to Rolling Stone, Wedding has since enrolled at Simon Fraser University and moved to Vancouver. The newspaper also reported that Wedding took a job as a bouncer at a Vancouver club during that time and was eventually drawn into the world of drug organizations, where he became a major.
