CANADIAN national Ryan Wedding, an FBI Top Ten Fugitive and former Olympic snowboarder, was apprehended Thursday night in Mexico City and flown to the U.S.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a post on X: “At my direction, Department of Justice agents @FBI have apprehended yet another member of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List: Ryan Wedding, the onetime Olympian snowboarder-turned alleged violent cocaine kingpin.

“Wedding was flown to the United States where he will face justice.

“This is a direct result of President Trump’s law-and-order leadership. Under @POTUS, criminals have no safe harbor.

“[FBI] Director [Kash] 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.

“Outstanding work from @FBIDirectorKash, @USAttyEssayli, and all of our partners.”

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme issued the following statement on Friday: “This is a great day for public safety in Canada. The capture of Ryan Wedding after a years-long investigation, and this most recent achievement, demonstrates the importance of international collaboration and the success that can be achieved when law enforcement shares intelligence. The RCMP collaborated closely with the FBI throughout the investigation, in Canada and around the world. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the FBI on their leadership of this investigation and thank them for their collaboration.

“Today is a day to applaud the efforts of the dedicated women and men at the heart of this effort. Our work in disrupting organized crime continues. Organized crime transcends borders and continually adapts. International partnerships remain critical. Working alongside the FBI enables the RCMP to more effectively confront and disrupt criminal operations.”

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said in a post on X: “Transnational crime is a major cause of violence & harm to our communities.

“The charges against Ryan James Wedding were indictments for drug trafficking, leading a criminal enterprise & multiple murders, INCLUDING ones right here in #PEEL: https://bit.ly/4bappCq This investigation & his subsequent arrest demonstrate the value of cross-border policing.”

The United States Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program had been offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Wedding.

In early December, the FBI in Los Angeles released a newly obtained photograph of Wedding, a snowboarder who represented Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and who after his snowboarding career, turned to a life of crime as a transnational narcotics trafficker.

The FBI said on its X account that the photo is believed to have been taken in Mexico during the summer of 2025.

Also, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico in a video posted on its Facebook Page and X account showed another newly obtained photo of Wedding.

In a November 19 press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., officials from the U.S. and Canada described Wedding as a narco-trafficker on par with notorious drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding’s operation was responsible for more than $1 billion a year in illegal drug proceeds.

The FBI said Wedding is wanted for allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada, and other locations in the United States. Additionally, it is alleged that Wedding was involved in orchestrating multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes.

Among seven subjects arrested in November in Canada was Wedding’s attorney, Deepak Paradkar, who allegedly recommended to Wedding that he have a witness murdered, the FBI said.  Paradkar was released on bail in Toronto in late December.

According to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice, “Paradkar, a criminal barrister … advised Wedding to murder the victim so that Wedding would avoid extradition to the United States from Mexico on the 2024 federal criminal charges against him. Paradkar also provided Wedding with court documents and discovery to which he would not otherwise have access, and – through attorneys whose representation he secured – access to enterprise members and associates who either were arrested, indicted, or under investigation.”

The following defendants were arrested as part of the second phase of a law enforcement action entitled “Operation Giant Slalom”:

• Deepak Balwant Paradkar, 62, of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada;
• Atna Ohna, 40, of Laval, Québec, Canada;
• Gursewak Singh Bal, 31, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada;
• Allistair Chapman, 33, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada;
• Ahmad Nabil Zitoun, 35, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;
• Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, 47, of Bogotá, Colombia;
• Yulieth Katherine Tejada, 36, of Orlando, Florida, who is legal permanent resident from Colombia;
• Edwin Basora-Hernandez, 31, of Montréal;
• Wilson Riascos, 45, of Cali, Colombia; and
• Rolan Sokolovski, 37, of Toronto.

U.S. authorities said they were searching for Wedding, and the following three defendants:

• Rasheed Pascua Hossain, 32, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;
• Bianca Canastillo-Madrid, 37, of Mexico City; and
• Tommy Demorizi, 35, of Montréal, who is believed to be a fugitive in the Dominican Republic

At the end of November, the FBI reported that Hossain had been arrested but did not offer any details.