Snowboarding Olympian Turned Fugitive Accused of Drug Crimes Has Been Arrested
After months of eluding law enforcement, Ryan Wedding has been arrested.
The former Olympic snowboarder is charged with being the kingpin behind one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations in existence. The 44-year-old was wanted by the FBI on charges of running a “multinational drug trafficking network.”
Two law enforcement officials familiar with the case told NBC News about the arrest on January 23, 2026. In March 2025, Ryan Wedding was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list. In November, he was in the headlines again, after being charged with killing a federal witness.
He allegedly imported 60 metric tons of cocaine a year into Los Angeles through Mexico. FBI Director Kash Patel once compared him to the late Colombian drug dealer Pablo Escobar.
Photo: Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“Whether you are a street-level drug dealer … or an international drug kingpin, we are coming for you,” United States Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters. “We will find you, and you will be accountable and held to justice for your crimes.”
Wedding competed in parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. He finished in 24th place. His descent into criminal activity is alleged to have started in 2008.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada says that Wedding led an organization that routinely moves hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada.
As a part of a massive sting in October of 2024, 12 members of the organization had been arrested. Wedding reportedly has connections to the Hells Angels and a Toronto-based group of organized criminals known as the Wolfpack. The FBI alleges that he was one of El Chapo’s go-to men in Canada, the Rolling Stone reported.
Jessica Hyde reported in her piece for Rolling Stone that Wedding’s entry into the drug world started when he began growing and moving marijuana in the Vancouver area, which was eventually noticed by the police in 2006. Police raided a grow operation that held 6,800 marijuana plants and loaded guns, among other things. At the time, it was considered the largest grow operation ever discovered by law enforcement.