Who is Ryan Wedding, How Old Is He, and Why Was He Arrested?

A former Olympic snowboarder who became one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Mexico, bringing an end to an international manhunt that spanned multiple continents. Ryan Wedding, 44, who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics, now faces serious charges including multinational drug trafficking and the alleged orchestration of killings to protect his criminal enterprise. But how did an elite athlete from the sports world end up on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list with a $15 million bounty on his head?

From Olympic Slopes to International Crime

Ryan Wedding’s journey from Olympic competitor to alleged drug kingpin represents one of the most dramatic falls from grace in recent memory. The Canadian snowboarder competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, representing his home country on the world’s biggest stage. After his athletic career ended, Wedding’s life took a stark turn toward criminal activity that would eventually put him at the top of law enforcement priority lists across North America. His transformation from athlete to fugitive shocked those who knew him during his competitive days.

The Drug Trafficking Empire

Federal authorities allege that Wedding built a sophisticated multinational drug trafficking operation that used semitrucks to move cocaine between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California, and Canada. The scale of his operation was staggering, authorities said, with the drug ring functioning like a legitimate logistics business while moving massive quantities of illegal narcotics across international borders. Wedding allegedly ran the operation under several aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad Kin,” each name representing a different persona in his criminal toolkit.

The Witness Killing Scheme

In November 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Wedding had been additionally indicted on charges of orchestrating the killing of a witness in Colombia, allegedly to prevent extradition to the United States. Court documents reveal that Wedding and his co-conspirators used a Canadian website called “The Dirty News” to post a photograph of the witness, enabling associates to identify and locate him. The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medellín and shot in the head in January, according to authorities. This cold-blooded murder attempt to silence testimony demonstrates the extreme measures Wedding allegedly took to protect his criminal organization.

International Manhunt Ends

After being placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Wedding became one of the most sought-after criminals in the world, with authorities offering a staggering $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. The FBI released a new photo of Wedding last month, believed to have been taken over the summer in Mexico, which helped investigators track his location. His arrest was confirmed by two sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity, and the announcement was expected at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel in California. The operation involved coordination between American and Mexican authorities to bring this dangerous fugitive to justice.

A History of Criminal Activity

This is not Wedding’s first encounter with the law. Federal records show that he was previously convicted in the United States of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010. Additionally, Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The pattern of criminal behavior spanning over a decade suggests that Wedding’s transition from legitimate athlete to international criminal was not an isolated incident but rather the culmination of years of illegal activity that ultimately caught up with him on the world stage.