Imagine swapping Olympic slopes for the underworld.
Sounds like a movie plot, right? US authorities say that’s exactly what Ryan Wedding did.
The 44-year-old Canadian, once an Olympic snowboarder, was arrested in Mexico on Thursday.
He was flown to the United States to face charges of cocaine trafficking and murder.
Wedding had been hiding in plain sight for years and was recently placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
A staggering $15m reward was offered for tips leading to his capture.
“This tells you how dangerous he is,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at a press briefing in California.
“He went from an Olympic athlete to one of the biggest narco traffickers of modern times.”
Patel didn’t mince words, calling Wedding a “modern-day El Chapo” and “a modern-day Pablo Escobar.”
From Athlete To Fugitive
Known by aliases like “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy,” Wedding is accused of working with the Sinaloa cartel to flood North America with narcotics.
“His organisation killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our communities,” Patel said.
Arrested in Mexico City after what officials described as a multi-agency international effort.
Wedding is believed to have been on the run for more than a decade.
Wanted since 2024, his fall from Olympic hopeful to alleged crime boss raises a chilling question.
How does someone trade a medal dream for a life on the run?
