FBI director Kash Patel called Ryan Wedding 'modern day Pablo Escobar' after Wedding was arrested by the FBI in Mexico making this the agency's 500th capture in the history of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. "When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front," Patel said, also thanking Canadian and Mexican authorities for their help in the investigation.
44-year-old Wedding has been on the FBI radar since 2024 March when the FBI added the former Canadian Olympian to their most wanted list. 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.
Patel said Wedding shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California to the United States and Canada.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding was flown to the US, “where he will face justice.”
“Director Patel has worked tirelessly to bring fugitives to justice. We are grateful to our incredible Ambassador Ron Johnson and the Mexican authorities for assisting us in this case,” Bondi said in a post on X.
The former athlete was charged in a September 2024 superseding indictment with attempted murder and other counts related to the alleged drug enterprise. In November, a grand jury indictment was unsealed charging him in the death of a federal witness who was supposed to testify against him. The witness was fatally shot at a restaurant after authorities said Wedding “placed a bounty” on his head and used a Canadian website to find the witness and his wife.
Ryan Wedding's entry in the crime world
Prosecutors alleged that Wedding's entry to the drug world took place in 2008 six years after he represented Canada in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Wedding traveled to San Diego to buy cocaine, got arrested as the dealer was an undercover agent and he was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison. It was after his release that he started his own criminal drug empire.
Wedding made social media profile public this month, posted photos of luxury items
Wedding made a bold move this January as he surfaced on social media, made his account public and posted images of high-end motorcycles, watches etc.
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