US authorities have arrested former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, ending a years-long international manhunt for a figure investigators describe as a major cocaine trafficker who relied on cryptocurrency to move and conceal illicit profits.
Key Takeaways:
- Former Olympian Ryan Wedding was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the US after years on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
- Authorities allege he ran a cartel-linked cocaine network and used crypto to launder proceeds.
- US officials say the operation generated over $1 billion annually and spanned multiple countries.
Wedding, 44, was taken into custody in Mexico late Thursday and transferred to the United States on Friday, according to US officials.
The former athlete, who competed for Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, had been listed among the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives, with a reward of up to $15 million offered for information leading to his capture.
Former Olympic Snowboarder Faces US Charges in Global Drug Case
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding, whom she described as a “onetime Olympian snowboarder-turned alleged violent cocaine kingpin,” will face federal charges in the US related to drug trafficking, murder, and operating a criminal enterprise spanning multiple countries.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest in a post on X, crediting cooperation with Mexican authorities for locating Wedding after more than a decade on the run.
Investigators allege that Wedding played a senior role in cocaine distribution networks tied to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, overseeing shipments from Colombia into the United States and Canada.
According to US officials, the operation generated more than $1 billion annually in illegal proceeds at its peak.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Wedding in November, accusing his organization of using cryptocurrency to move and launder drug profits.
In its notice, the Treasury said digital assets were used to obscure the flow of funds and conceal large sums derived from narcotics trafficking.
Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Wedding voluntarily surrendered at the U.S. Embassy before being handed over to the FBI.
Patel later told reporters that Wedding had been hiding in Mexico for over 10 years and was believed to be under cartel protection.
Wedding arrived Friday at Ontario International Airport in Southern California, where federal officials held a press conference following his transfer.
Authorities said they seized firearms, luxury vehicles, artwork, and other assets connected to the alleged criminal enterprise, and indicated further arrests may follow as the investigation continues.
Ryan Wedding’s Earlier Cocaine Case Predates Latest US Charges
This is not Wedding’s first encounter with US law enforcement. In 2008, he was arrested in California in a cocaine trafficking sting involving a Vancouver-based operation.
He was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to four years in prison, before being released around 2011.
The arrest comes as crypto-related crime remains a growing concern. According to Chainalysis, illicit cryptocurrency addresses received a record $154 billion in 2025, a sharp increase from the year before.
In another case, US prosecutors have charged a 23-year-old Brooklyn resident, Ronald Spektor, with stealing roughly $16 million in cryptocurrency from around 100 Coinbase users through an alleged phishing and social engineering scheme.
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