Canadian ex-Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin arrested, NBC News reports
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Ryan Wedding of Canada takes a practice run for the men’s parallel giant slalom during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Former Olympian Ryan Wedding, a suspected cocaine kingpin, has been arrested, according to NBC News citing law enforcement officials.
- Wedding was on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list for allegedly running a drug trafficking network from Colombia to the US and Canada.
- The FBI and Canadian officials scheduled a news conference to announce a "significant development" in the investigation.
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WASHINGTON – Ryan Wedding, a Canadian former Olympic snowboarder suspected of becoming a cocaine smuggling kingpin, has been arrested, NBC News reported on Jan 23, citing two law enforcement officials familiar with the US investigation.
Wedding, 44, was on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Top 10 Most Wanted list for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking network responsible for transporting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada.
Wedding has been charged with overseeing a criminal enterprise, including by engaging in witness intimidation tactics such as murder, and enriching himself with laundered drug proceeds, the US Department of Justice said in November.
NBC did not say where or how Wedding was arrested. US and Canadian officials said in November they believed Wedding had been residing in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
FBI director Kash Patel was scheduled to announce a “significant development in a major investigation” at a news conference on Jan 23 in California alongside Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Michael Duheme and other US law enforcement officials, according to the FBI. REUTERS
