Olympic Snowboarder Arrested for Drugs Trafficking

1st February 2026

Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympian, is allegedly behind one of the most violent drug trafficking organisations in the world.

He was arrested in Mexico.

Authorities believe Wedding, 44, is a member of the Sinaloa Cartel and had been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade while “running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.

Patel said Wedding shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California to the United States and Canada.

“He went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco-trafficker in modern times.

“He is a modern-day El Chapo, he is a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he could evade justice,” Patel said at a news conference, referring to the notorious leader of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel.

In March, he was added to the FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted” list of fugitives, and there was a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or prosecution.

CBC’s Eli Glasner breaks down Wedding’s unlikely run from Canadian Olympic snowboarder to wanted drug kingpin, described by the FBI as a modern-day El Chapo.