FBI Director Kash Patel, during a press conference on the tarmac at Ontario International Airport, said the capture of Ryan Wedding, 44, resulted from a manhunt.<\/b>
\nFormer Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, a top FBI fugitive, was arrested in Mexico and on Friday flown to the U.S. to face charges related to running a multinational drug trafficking ring and the killing of a federal witness.
FBI Director Kash Patel, during a press conference on the tarmac at Ontario International Airport, said the capture of Wedding, 44, resulted from a manhunt by U.S. investigators who worked with authorities in Mexico, Canada, Colombia and the Dominican Republic for more than a year.
Wedding was escorted off of a U.S. Department of Justice Boeing 737 passenger jet Friday morning, Jan. 23, after it touched down at Ontario around 8 a.m. Wedding was then whisked away to a detention center that the FBI declined to disclose.
Wedding was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. After his release from prison, federal prosecutors in 2024 charged Wedding with running a drug ring. Prosecutors said they believed he was working under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico\u2019s most powerful drug rings.
Officials say he orchestrated several killings and used semitrucks to move cocaine between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada. Authorities said his aliases included \u201cEl Jefe,\u201d \u201cPublic Enemy\u201d and \u201cJames Conrad Kin.\u201d
\u201cHe\u2019s the modern-day El Chapo. He is the modern-day Pablo Escobar,\u201d Patel said, comparing him to the legendary former Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n, who is imprisoned in the U.S. after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges.
Wedding was apprehended Thursday night in Mexico City, Patel said. U.S. authorities believe Wedding \u2014 who competed for his home country in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City \u2014 had been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade.
Patel praised Mexico\u2019s government and \u201cglobal partnerships\u201d for their roles in the operation.
\u201cWhen you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front, and that\u2019s what you\u2019re seeing here,\u201d said Patel, who declined to give details about the arrest.
Mexico\u2019s Security Secretary Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch wrote Friday on X that a Canadian citizen had turned himself in at the U.S. embassy. A member of Mexico\u2019s Security Cabinet told The Associated Press that individual was Wedding. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Wedding was on the FBI\u2019s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and authorities had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. He is expected to appear in federal court Monday, said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI field office in Los Angeles.
Davis said 36 people have been arrested in connection with the drug ring Wedding is accused of running, and authorities seized large volumes of drugs, weapons and cash, as well as millions of dollars worth of automobiles, motorcycles, artwork and jewelry from Wedding and others charged in the case. Rewards of up to $2 million are available for information leading to additional arrests and convictions.
Patel identified a second apprehended fugitive as Alejandro Rosales Castillo, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen charged with murder in the 2016 killing of a North Carolina woman. He also faces a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. According to the FBI, Castillo was arrested a week ago in Mexico.
Wedding participated in a single men\u2019s snowboarding event, parallel giant slalom, finishing 24th at the 2002 Games.
In November, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Wedding had also been indicted on charges of orchestrating the killing of a witness in Colombia to help him avoid extradition to the U.S.
Authorities said Wedding and co-conspirators used a Canadian website called \u201cThe Dirty News\u201d to post a photograph of the witness so he could be identified and killed. The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medell\u00edn in January and shot in the head.
Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
With the jet\u2019s engines still running, the media, FBI director Patel and other speakers had to shout statements, questions and answers back and forth during the press conference.
Patel was asked why Wedding was brought to Ontario instead of Los Angeles International Airport or another airfield closer to L.A.
\u201cWe have to maximize operational security,\u201d Patel said after joking that the location was chosen for its \u201cnice weather\u201d on a cool and overcast morning.
\u201cWe make these decisions jointly with our partners who run these airports, we make these decisions jointly with the local police force and our inter-agency officers,\u201d Patel continued. \u201cThere are trigger points and earmarks that we have to meet to safely transport an individual of the level and caliber of Ryan Wedding. \u2026
\u201cSo that collective decision was made to ensure the security of both the transportation and the federal transfer of custody that the FBI executed, and also to ensure the safety of his confinement and ultimate prosecution,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n