Ryan Wedding, Ex-Olympic Snowboarder Accused of Being a Drug Kingpin, Arrested After Hiding From Authorities for Years

Ryan Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder accused of trafficking cocaine, has finally been caught after evading arrest for years.

On Friday, January 23, law enforcement officials confirmed they had him in custody to NBC News.

The 44-year-old Canadian was one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives for allegedly leading a transnational cocaine network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi previously claimed the drug ring brings approximately 60 metric tons of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico into Southern California annually. FBI Director Kash Patel has compared Wedding to notorious drug lords like Pablo Escobar and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Wedding was charged with eight felonies, including three counts of murder and one count of attempt to commit murder back in September of 2024.

Then, in November 2025, a grand jury indictment against the former Olympic athlete charged him with the death of a federal witness who was supposed to testify against him.

Wedding allegedly "placed a bounty" on the witness' head through a Canadian website, leading to him being shot dead at a restaurant in Colombia in January 2025.

Wedding, who spent close to a decade on the run from authorities, was rumored to be living in Mexico with heavy protection from the cartel.

The FBI had recently offered a staggering reward of $15 million for information, describing the Olympian as an "extremely violent criminal believed to be responsible for the murder of numerous people abroad."

Details of Wedding's long-awaited arrest have not yet been released, though Patel, Bondi and Royal Canadian Mounted Police are expected to brief the public on his apprehension on Friday morning.

The U.S. Treasury Department recently claimed Wedding has built a "complex web" of assets to obscure his wealth, using luxury cars, motorcycles, properties, cryptocurrency and front businesses.

In December 2025, FBI officials confirmed that Mexican authorities seized 62 motorcycles believed to be owned by Wedding. It's been rumored that some of the motorbikes were famously ridden by Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez in MotoGP.

A statement from the FBI at the time read: "This month, Mexican authorities executed multiple search warrants and seized a large number of motorcycles with an estimated value of approximately $40 million USD believed to be owned by FBI's Top Ten Fugitive Ryan James Wedding."

FBI agents also discovered two vehicles, two Olympic medals, methamphetamine, marijuana, various art pieces and ammunition. It's unclear who the medals belong to, as Wedding finished 24th in his appearance at the games.

The Canadian-born snowboarder participated in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. It was the only time he competed.