Olympic Snowboarder Turned Accused Drug Kingpin Arrested

One of the strangest stories in snowsports has, for now, come to an end. 

Friday morning, NBC News reported that, according to law enforcement officials, Ryan Wedding, a snowboarder and one-time Canadian Olympian accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that imported drugs from Mexico, had been arrested.

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CNN reported that officials said they’d be searching for Wedding for more than a year. 

He was taken into custody in Mexico on Thursday night, where officials had thought he was hiding and being protected by the Sinaloa Cartel, a vast and powerful drug trafficking syndicate. According to CNN, Wedding arrived at the Ontario International Airport in Southern California on Friday.

Wedding, 44, competed in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, placing 24th in parallel giant slalom. As of March 2025, he was also a member of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitive list, having turned to a life of crime, law enforcement said.

In November, the federal agency raised its bounty to $15 million, with officials comparing Wedding to notorious drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar. Attorney General Pam Bondi previously said that Wedding’s operation generated more than $1 billion in illegal drug proceeds and trafficked 60 metric tons of cocaine each year.

“He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in this world,” Bondi said. “He is the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada.” 

Alongside being accused of drug trafficking, Wedding faced an indictment that accused him of ordering the death of a federal witness who could have testified against him. Law enforcement said others were arrested in connection with the crime and were part of an aptly named action called “Operation Giant Slalom.”

“Ryan Wedding’s athletic drive snowballed into a life of violence and, instead of conquering mountains, he mastered a deadly drug distribution enterprise and will continue to order murders while he enjoys protection by his cartel associates and others,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, at the time.