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Ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding Arrested in Mexico, Now in U.S. Custody on Drug and Murder Charges

U.S. officials say the former Canadian Olympian now faces U.S. indictments over a cartel-backed cocaine network, including a witness’s killing.

Overview

  • Justice Department and FBI leaders confirmed Wedding, 44, was apprehended Thursday night in Mexico and flown to the United States to face federal charges.
  • Prosecutors allege he led a transnational operation moving cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the U.S. and Canada under Sinaloa Cartel protection.
  • A superseding indictment accuses Wedding of ordering the killing of a federal witness in Medellín after associates posted the target’s photo on a Canadian website called The Dirty News.
  • Wedding was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, with authorities offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
  • Officials credited coordination among U.S., Mexican, and Canadian authorities; accounts differ on whether he surrendered at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City or was detained by Mexican authorities.