00:00Today, we are announcing a capture of another FBI's most wanted top 10 fugitive, Ryan Wedding.
00:19That makes six top 10 FBI captures in one year alone.
00:23He once represented Canada on the world's biggest sporting stage.
00:31Now, U.S. authorities say he ran one of the most powerful and violent drug networks in the world.
00:38Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder, has been arrested in Mexico after years on the run and is now being extradited to the United States.
00:49According to the FBI, Wedding wasn't just hiding, he was operating under cartel protection, allegedly moving massive quantities of cocaine across borders while ordering killings to protect his empire.
01:04Ryan James Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, racing in parallel giant slalom.
01:13After leaving professional sports, prosecutors say his life took a dramatic and dangerous turn.
01:20By the 2010s, investigators allege Wedding had embedded himself deep inside organized crime,
01:28eventually building a transnational cocaine trafficking operation stretching across North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
01:36U.S. officials allege Wedding's organization moved nearly 60 metric tons of cocaine every year.
01:45Authorities say it became the single largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, generating an estimated $1 billion annually.
01:54The operation allegedly relied on cartel logistics, corrupt networks, and extreme violence, including witness intimidation and murder to maintain control.
02:05Wedding was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, with a $15 million reward offered for information.
02:15Investigators believed he was hiding in Mexico, under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel.
02:21His arrest in Mexico City involved U.S., Canadian, and Mexican authorities, along with the FBI's elite hostage rescue team.
02:30Wedding now faces a long list of felony charges, drug trafficking, money laundering, witness tampering, intimidation, and multiple murder counts.
02:42FBI Director Kosh Patel described him as a modern-day Pablo Escobar, with officials also drawing comparisons to El Chapo.
02:51And just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco-trafficker in modern times.
02:58He is a modern-day El Chapo, he is a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he could evade justice.
03:04But these brave men and women put together a prosecution package, put together an investigative package, put together an operations strategy,
03:11and here we are today, bringing him to justice for trafficking hundreds of kilos of cocaine, and also for the murder of innocent civilians.
03:22Wedding is expected to make his first court appearance in Los Angeles.
03:27The case of Ryan Wedding is being described as one of the most dramatic falls of fame in modern history.
03:33From Olympic slopes to cartel shadows, authorities say his story shows how global crime networks can recruit from anywhere, even elite sports.
03:45Now the final chapter moves to a U.S. courtroom, where prosecutors say the full scope of his alleged empire will finally be revealed.
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