Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, an alleged drug kingpin who’s been accused of orchestrating multiple murders, was arrested in Mexico and brought to america, Justice Division officers introduced Friday.
Wedding ceremony, a 44-year-old Canadian nationwide, was taken into custody in Mexico Metropolis on Thursday evening, FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned at a information convention at Southern California’s Ontario Worldwide Airport east of Los Angeles. Through the information convention, Patel gestured to a aircraft behind him and informed reporters Wedding ceremony had been taken off the aircraft.
An FBI official in Los Angeles informed CBS Information the U.S. authorities aircraft carrying Wedding ceremony landed on the airport from Mexico at roughly 8 a.m. native time Friday.
In a video clip supplied by the FBI, a handcuffed Wedding ceremony is seen carrying denims, sneakers, a sweatshirt, a vest and a baseball cap strolling down a stairway from the aircraft flanked by FBI brokers. One other clip reveals Wedding ceremony and authorities strolling away from the aircraft.
FBI
“Simply to inform you how dangerous of a man Ryan Wedding ceremony is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the biggest narco-trafficker in trendy occasions,” Patel mentioned. “He’s a modern-day ‘El Chapo,’ he’s a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he may evade justice.”
“El Chapo” is an alias for Joaquin Guzman, a onetime chief of the infamous Mexican drug ring often called the Sinaloa Cartel who’s serving a life sentence within the U.S. In line with the FBI, Wedding ceremony additionally used aliases, together with “El Jefe,” “Big” and “Public Enemy.”
Patel additionally mentioned one other fugitive who was arrested in Mexico final week, Alejandro Rosales Castillo, was dropped at the U.S. on the identical aircraft as Wedding ceremony and could be taken east later Friday. Patel mentioned Castillo’s arrest wasn’t associated to Wedding ceremony’s apprehension.
Patel informed reporters he was in Mexico on a beforehand deliberate journey. He mentioned the Mexican authorities labored with the U.S. to apprehend Wedding ceremony.
“This was an incredible operation that got here collectively by interagency success,” Patel mentioned.
Mike Blake / REUTERS 
Patel mentioned he would not present further particulars about Wedding ceremony’s arrest “to safeguard the integrity of the continued investigation.” He declined to touch upon the $15 million reward that was being supplied by the U.S. for Wedding ceremony.
When officers elevated the reward in November, U.S. Lawyer Common Pam Bondi described Wedding ceremony’s alleged operation as “one of the crucial prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations on this world.”
The Justice Division mentioned it expects Wedding ceremony’s arraignment to happen on Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.
Akil Davis, the assistant director in command of the FBI’s Los Angeles discipline workplace, mentioned investigators labored for over a 12 months to arrest Wedding ceremony. “Ryan Wedding ceremony tormented a number of individuals and a number of other households that can by no means be the identical, however as we speak, they get the justice that they sought,” Davis mentioned.
Andrew Harnik / Getty Photos 
Wedding ceremony, who competed within the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake Metropolis, has been accused of operating a significant drug trafficking community that moved cocaine from Colombia by Mexico to the U.S. and Canada. Patel said in a social media post Friday that Wedding ceremony was operating his alleged operation as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, and that Wedding ceremony was believed to have been hiding out in Mexico for over a decade.
Wedding ceremony was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list final 12 months.
In November, Wedding ceremony was accused of putting a “multimillion-dollar bounty” on a federal witness who was concerned in a narcotics case towards him.
In line with the FBI, Wedding ceremony and his second-in-command Andrew Clark, 34, allegedly additionally ordered the killings of two members of a Canadian household in 2023 in retaliation for a stolen drug cargo.
Clark was extradited to the U.S. from Mexico final 12 months.
The pair are additionally accused of directing the killing of one other individual in 2024 over a drug debt, in line with the FBI.
