Key Highlights
- (Follow @alyroe on ). Follow on XTisha ThompsonCloseTisha ThompsonESPNTisha Thompson is an investigative reporter for ESPN based in Washington, D. C.
- Her work appears on all platforms, both domestically and internationally. Follow on XJan 23, 2026, 06:28 PM ETEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsRyan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympian turned alleged drug kingpin who has drawn comparisons to Pablo Escobar and El Chapo, was taken into custody after a 17-month pursuit and more than a decade at large, federal authorities announced Friday. In two indictments, prosecutors from the U. S.
- Attorney's Office for the Central District of California laid out how Wedding, 44, and his associates allegedly trafficked more than $1 billion in cocaine across the U. S.
- and Canada and orchestrated multiple murders, including the assassination of a key government witness. Thirty-six people have been charged for their alleged roles in Wedding's organization, including a Canadian attorney, a crime blogger and multiple hitmen. Here's what we know about Wedding, his journey from a footnote in Olympic history to the FBI's most wanted list, and what's next in the case. Who is Ryan Wedding?Wedding was born into a snow sports family.
- His grandparents owned a small ski area in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a vibrant port city on Lake Superior.