Canadian Ex‑Olympian Ryan Wedding Arrested, Former FBI Most Wanted

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published January 23, 2026

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Canadian former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who had been listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, was arrested on January 23, 2026, U.S. law enforcement officials announced. Wedding, 44, competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics and had been sought on allegations of leading a major international drug trafficking network that smuggled cocaine across borders, including into the U.S. and Canada.

Officials familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that a press conference is expected in California, with FBI Director Kash Patel and representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to provide details on the arrest.

Wedding faced charges that included running a transnational criminal enterprise, trafficking hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, and orchestrating murders related to his criminal activities, and had a $15 million reward offered for information leading to his capture.

Authorities say the network allegedly moved cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the United States and Canada. Wedding was known by several aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad Kin,” while evading capture.

Several of his alleged associates were arrested in Mexico in 2024 as part of the broader investigation, but Wedding remained at large until this week’s operation