Who Is Ryan Wedding? What to Know About the Olympian-Turned-Alleged Drug Lord
How Ryan Wedding Went From Snowboarding to a $15 Million Reward On His Head
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Ryan Wedding had a promising career as a snowboarder, but he's alleged to have given it all up to pursue the life of a drug lord ... which likely ended with his arrest in January 2026.
Here's a look at the one-time Olympic athlete's background and how he went from carving slopes to cutting lines ... before he ended up in handcuffs.
Ryan Comes From a Ski Family
Ryan was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, in 1981 ... he grew up in a family with deep roots in skiing -- his grandparents owned a ski mountain, and one of his uncles was the captain of the Canadian national women’s ski team, Toronto Life reports.
He started snowboarding at an early age and made the Canadian national snowboarding team when he was 15 years old.
Ryan's talents took him to competitions all over the world. He was a member of Team Canada in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He placed 24th in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event ... giving up a dream of pro snowboarding not long after.
His First Arrest Was in 2008
Wedding moved to Vancouver, Canada and enrolled at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia while working as a bouncer at a club, according to CNN. He studied business, but never graduated.
He ran into trouble with the law in 2008, when he and two other individuals were arrested, accused of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.
The other two pleaded guilty, but Wedding took his case to trial ... and was convicted in 2009. Wedding was sent to prison in 2010, and was released the following year.
Wedding Founded His Alleged Criminal Enterprise After Prison
Wedding allegedly founded his criminal enterprise not long after, becoming a target of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Operation Harrington, which targeted drug traffickers in 2015 ... but he was never caught, Rolling Stone reports.
He allegedly shipped hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Colombia to the United States and Canada, reportedly working with Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.
Wedding has been implicated in the deaths of several people -- including a government witness -- to stop them from speaking about his criminal activities, according to NBC News.
He was added to the FBI's Most Wanted List in March 2025, and a $15 million reward was offered for information leading to his arrest.
Wedding Was Captured in Mexico
Wedding was arrested on the night of January 22, 2026, in Mexico, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. In a news conference, Patel described Wedding as "a modern-day El Chapo."
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on X Wedding was flown back to the United States to face justice. Wedding was set to make his first court appearance Monday, January 26, 2026.
