According to reports from U.S. media, Ryan Wedding was detained, turning Olympian into an alleged drug lord.

 

Multiple U.S. media reports indicate that Ryan Wedding, a Canadian Olympian who is alleged to be a cocaine kingpin, has been arrested. The 44-year-old’s apprehension was disclosed Friday, law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation told NBC News, CNN and The Associated Press.  America has been contacted by Global News. for comment, Department of Justice. The native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, who has been dubbed the "modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar" by FBI Director Kash Patel, is alleged to be the kingpin of a drug empire that trades 60 metric tons of cocaine annually across the Americas for $1 billion in illegal profits. Wedding, a snowboarder who was living in Coquitlam, B.C., when he suited up for his country at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list earlier this year.

 The FBI has said Wedding, who has been reportedly living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, may have been changing his appearance and hair colour to avoid capture.

It wasn’t immediately clear how he was captured or when.  A US$15-million bounty was issued by the U.S.  for information that led to his arrest or conviction at the State Department.

A news conference between the RCMP and the FBI is anticipated later on Friday morning.

He faces a number of murder and drug-related charges. Before he could testify against him and Andrew Clark, his alleged second-in-command, in November, Wedding was accused of ordering the murder of a federal witness. On January, that witness was shot to death at a restaurant in Medelln, Colombia. 31.

 Seven other Canadians reportedly connected to that slaying were arrested and charged.  Deepak Paradkar, Wedding's alleged attorney, was one of them. American officials claim that Paradkar advised Wedding to kill the witness. Prior to his extradition, a judge in Ontario approved his bail release in December.

Wedding and another Canadian citizen, who was arrested by Mexican authorities last fall, are accused of directing the Nov. 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Caledon, Ont., in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment.

 According to the Ontario Provincial Police, the family was targeted erroneously and was "completely innocent."

Wedding faces separate “unresolved” drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, the RCMP said last October.

 According to federal records, he was previously found guilty in the United States of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and given a prison sentence in 2010. U.S. authorities believe that after Wedding’s release, he resumed drug trafficking and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel.

 To date, at least 36 people reportedly tied to Wedding’s operation have been arrested and charged, and several remain wanted.