Ryan Wedding, the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, hoped his reputation would remain intertwined with his success on the snow. However, his involvement with transnational drug trafficking and further crimes landed him in the news for less than reputable reasons. Wedding was taken into custody on Jan. 22 after turning himself in to the United States embassy in Mexico City, Mexico.
After being taken into custody, Wedding was flown to Southern California. He appeared in Federal court on Jan. 26 in Santa Ana in Orange County. He pleaded not guilty to 17 felony counts tied to drug distribution, witness interference and conspiracy to murder.
The first charge against the former snowboarder dates back to 2024 for a wide range of criminal operations, including drug trafficking and murder. Authorities allege he was involved in the death of two members of a Canadian family in relation to a stolen drug shipment in 2023, saying that he ordered them to be put to death.
The case grew even bigger and more complicated when authorities connected Wedding to the murder of a witness in Colombia, with the hopes of blocking his extradition to the U.S.
Canadian authorities and communities are rejoicing at the capture of Wedding. Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree, “called it a ‘significant step forward’ in an international fight against illegal drugs,” according to ESPN from the Associated Press. It’s believed that Wedding was working under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, based out of Culiacán, Mexico. Wedding had several aliases he went by when participating in illegal drug activity, including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy” and “James Conrad Kin.”
Back in March of 2025, Wedding was added to FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for channeling large amounts of cocaine into the U.S. and Canada. A $10 million reward was offered for information leading to Wedding’s arrest or conviction, according to the FBI Los Angeles.
Prior to the former Olympian’s arrest, authorities from Mexico, Canada, Colombia and The Dominican Republic worked with the U.S. to track him down. It was later discovered that Wedding moved cocaine between Mexico, Colombia, Canada and California.
In 2010, after his snowboarding career had concluded, Wedding had a prior U.S. conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine after he had expanded his operation. He joined up with Iranian and Russian cocaine smugglers. He was released from U.S. custody in 2011. He also faced separate drug charges in his home country of Canada dating back to 2015.
Wedding joined the Canadian National Ski Team at age 15 and found much success competing in snowboarding. He made his Olympic debut in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He participated in the Men’s Parallel giant slalom event, where he placed 24th. Prior to the Olympics, he was a World Junior medalist in 1999 and 2001. Following his Olympic debut in 2002, Wedding gave up snowboarding for good.
After leaving professional sports, Wedding returned to Canada to attend university but that was short-lived. He soon began growing and selling marijuana in a 6,800 plant warehouse in the suburbs, financed by selling real estate. In 2006, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the farm and found a shotgun, ammunition and millions of dollars’ worth of cannabis. Wedding was not on the property at the time of the raid, and the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.
This case has drawn international attention due to the shocking contrast from Olympic athlete to drug lord. This news has shocked many who knew Wedding from his snowboarding success on the global stage.
For the time being, the judge ruled that Wedding must remain in custody, given the possibility he may flee if given the opportunity. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 11, with a trial set for March 24 to dictate the official charges and sentence.
