Former Olympian Ryan Wedding Faces Arraignment as Accused Drug Kingpin in Orange County
Arraignment Scheduled for Accused Drug Lord Ryan Wedding in Santa Ana
Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, is scheduled for arraignment on Monday in Santa Ana. He faces serious federal charges that allege he operated a narcotics trafficking organization and ordered the killing of a witness.
The arraignment was initially planned for downtown Los Angeles but was moved to Orange County over the weekend.
Wedding, 44, was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List until his arrest late last week. He had been hiding in Mexico for over a decade and has been wanted on charges of cocaine trafficking and murder since 2024.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced on X that Wedding was apprehended in Mexico City on Thursday night and transported to Los Angeles on Friday to face federal charges. A reward of $15 million had been offered for information leading to his capture and conviction. Patel described Wedding’s arrest as a significant step towards ensuring a safer North America and emphasized that those who break the law will be pursued.
Allegations against Wedding claim he ran a transnational drug trafficking network affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel. This operation reportedly shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and into Southern California before distributing it across the United States and Canada.
In October, Wedding was indicted on multiple federal charges, including operating a continuing criminal enterprise and murder in connection with drug trafficking. Patel characterized him as "a modern-day El Chapo" and "a modern-day Pablo Escobar."
The updated indictment reveals that Wedding is charged with ordering the murder of a witness who was expected to testify against him in a federal drug case. He is the lead defendant among 19 individuals implicated in a witness murder that occurred on January 31, 2025, in Colombia.
Federal prosecutors indicate that if convicted, Wedding and his co-defendants could face life imprisonment.
Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, has seen his athletic achievements overshadowed by serious legal troubles. Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles bureau, remarked in November that Wedding’s once-promising career had devolved into a life of violence and crime.
