FBI arrests ex-Canadian snowboard Olympian turned alleged drug lord

Prosecutors allege Ryan Wedding, who was arrested successful Mexico, down multibillion-dollar cause trafficking scheme.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a erstwhile Canadian Olympic snowboarder who allegedly became a cause kingpin successful Mexico.

The bureau announced connected Friday that 44-year-old Ryan Wedding had been picked up successful Mexico City and brought to the US connected charges of cocaine trafficking and murder.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3It’s not the oil. It’s Florida
• list 2 of 3Petro says Colombia cooperating with US ‘despite insults, threats’
• list 3 of 3Venezuela: In the Shadow of the US

“He is simply a modern-day El Chapo. He is simply a modern-day Pablo Escobar,” FBI caput Kash Patel said during a quality conference, referencing Mexican cartel person Joaquin Guzman and Colombian cartel person Escobar, respectively.

Patel added that Wedding had alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, nether whose extortion helium was believed to beryllium surviving successful Mexico. He had been hiding successful the state for much than a decade, with the FBI offering a $15m reward starring to his arrest.

All told, Wedding controlled ​an cognition liable for generating much than $1bn a twelvemonth successful amerciable cause proceeds, according to the FBI.

“This idiosyncratic and his organisation successful the Sinaloa Cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America and killed excessively galore of our younker and corrupted excessively galore of our citizens,” helium said, without providing further details connected however Wedding was captured.

Akil Davis, the adjunct manager of the FBI’s Los Angeles tract office, told reporters that Wedding – whose aliases see “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy” – was expected to person an archetypal US tribunal quality connected Monday.

Davis said 36 radical connected to Wedding’s alleged cause trafficking ringing person been arrested, and assets worthy tens of millions of dollars person been seized, including luxury vehicles, invaluable artwork and jewellery.

Beyond the trafficking charges, authorities besides accused Wedding, who competed for Canada successful the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics successful parallel elephantine slalom, of hiring assassins to people individuals helium perceived arsenic rivals oregon instrumentality enforcement “coordinators”.

In charges filed past year, prosecutors accused Wedding of taking portion successful the sidesplitting of a witnesser acceptable to attest against him. According to prosecutors, the witnesser was fatally changeable 5 times aft Wedding enactment a $5m bounty connected his head.

Prosecutors person besides accused Wedding of ordering the sidesplitting of a operator accused of stealing cocaine. As a result, a joined mates visiting Ontario were fatally shot, successful an evident lawsuit of mistaken identity.

The apprehension comes arsenic Mexico has stepped up extraditions of accused cartel members to the US, successful what immoderate person seen arsenic an effort to ward disconnected the Trump medication from conducting subject actions successful the country.

The Trump administration, which earlier this period abducted Venezuelan person Nicolas Maduro, has threatened to behaviour specified operations with oregon without Mexico’s approval.