FBI arrests ex-Canadian snowboard Olympian turned alleged drug lord

A former Canadian snowboarder who allegedly rose to the top of the drug trade in Mexico has been detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Ryan Wedding, 44, was detained in Mexico City and taken to the US on suspicion of cocaine trafficking and murder, according to the agency’s announcement on Friday.

He resembles an El Chapo of the modern era. In a press conference, FBI Director Kash Patel referred to Colombian and Mexican cartel leaders Escobar, respectively, and said that he is a modern version of Pablo Escobar.

Patel added that Wedding allegedly had connections to the Sinaloa Cartel, who was supposed to be living there under Patel’s protection. He had been hiding out in the country for more than ten years before his arrest was made possible by the FBI’s $15 million reward.

According to the FBI, Wedding managed an operation that produced more than $1 billion in illegal drug proceeds annually.

Without providing further details about how Wedding was taken, he claimed that this person and his organization in the Sinaloa Cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America, killing too many of our youth, and corrupting too many of our citizens.

The FBI’s Los Angeles field office assistant director Akil Davis announced to reporters that Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” was scheduled to make its first US court appearance on Monday.

According to Davis, 36 people have been detained in connection with Wedding’s alleged drug trafficking ring, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets have been seized, including expensive cars, pieces of jewelry, and valuable jewelry.

Authorities also charged Wedding with using assassins to target people he perceived as rivals or law enforcement “coordinators,” as well as the trafficking charges. He represented Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics in parallel giant slalom.

In allegations made in the prosecutors’ lawsuits last year, Wedding was charged with killing a witness who was set to testify against him. The witness was fatally shot five times after Wedding placed a $5 million bounty on his head, according to the prosecution.

Additionally, Wedding has been charged with ordering the murder of a cocaine smuggler. A married couple who was visiting Ontario was fatally shot as a result, presumably because of their mistaken identity.

In an effort to avert the Trump administration from conducting military operations in the country, Mexico has increased extraditions of suspected cartel members to the US in response to the arrest.