Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder, was arrested for allegedly running an international drugs ring. Photo / Andrew Harnick, AFP
Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder, was arrested for allegedly running an international drugs ring. Photo / Andrew Harnick, AFP
A former Olympic snowboarder accused of running an international drugs ring has been arrested, according to reports.
Ryan Wedding, who was added to the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list in March, has been characterised by authorities as the most prolific drug kingpin since Pablo Escobar.
Officials told NBC Newsthat the 44-year-old had been arrested, but did not provide further details. A press conference is expected to be held on Friday.
In addition to allegedly running a multi-national drug organisation that smuggles cocaine into the US and Canada, Wedding is said to have ordered the deaths of a witness and rival smugglers.
Kash Patel, the FBI director, said Wedding had been arrested on Thursday night in Mexico, where he had been hiding for over a decade, and was being flown to the US.
In 2002, he represented Canada at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the Giant Slalom snowboarding competition.
Attorney General Pam Bondi (left) and FBI Director Kash Patel (right). Photo / Demetrius Freeman, The Washington Post
Prosecutors said the snowboarding disappointment marked a turning point in his life.
Six years later, he was caught in an FBI sting when he attempted to buy 24kg of cocaine from an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer.
Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad King,” was sentenced to four years in prison in 2009 but was released in 2011, and allegedly went on to found a sprawling drugs empire.
According to an indictment, he created a vast smuggling operation with the help of the cartels which transports cocaine from Colombia to Mexico to a hub in southern California, and from there across North America.
Bondi accused the former snowboarder of smuggling around 60 tonnes of cocaine each year into Los Angeles.
“He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organisations in this world,” she said in November. “He is currently the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada.”
Authorities placed a $15 million (£11m) bounty on Wedding’s head in March.
The FBI put a $15m bounty on Wedding’s head. Photo / Andrew Harnick, AFP
“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of US cities and in his native Canada,” Akil Davis, an assistant director at the bureau, said at the time.
In December, Mexican police seized a collection of dozens of motorbikes thought to have been owned by Wedding that was valued at $40m (£29m).
In a series of co-ordinated raids, officers confiscated 62 high-end motorbikes with a pair of Olympic medals and artwork.
A grand jury indictment unsealed in November charged him with the death of a witness, who was shot and killed in a restaurant in Colombia, before they were able to testify against him.
“Wedding placed the bounty on the victim’s head, and the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him,” said Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor for the Central District of California. “He was wrong.”
Wedding’s alleged drugs empire appeared to be under pressure after Andrew Clark, said to be his second-in-command, was arrested in October by Mexican authorities.
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