Once celebrated as a Canadian snowboarding prodigy, Ryan Wedding’s life has taken a jaw-dropping turn from Olympic tracks to criminal underworlds.
On January 22, 2026, authorities in Mexico City finally ended a ten-year international manhunt, capturing the 44-year-old former athlete who had become one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.
The arrest has ignited global fascination, not only because of his alleged crimes ranging from massive drug trafficking to orchestrating murders but also due to the public’s curiosity about his entangled personal life.
Born September 14, 1981, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding grew up surrounded by mountains and snow sports, his grandparents owning the Mount Baldy Ski Area.
He rose to prominence as a world-class snowboarder, representing Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in men’s parallel giant slalom, finishing 24th a result believed to have shaken his confidence and sparked the start of a darker path.
After a brief stint at Simon Fraser University, Wedding dropped out and worked as a nightclub bouncer in Vancouver. It was during this period that he allegedly became entwined with the drug underworld, earning infamous aliases like El Jefe (The Boss), Giant, and Public Enemy.
Authorities claim he oversaw a billion-dollar drug-smuggling empire and ordered multiple killings to protect his operations. Following his arrest, Wedding was flown to the United States, where he will face federal charges in Los Angeles on January 26, 2026.
Wedding’s capture was a coordinated effort between Mexican authorities, the FBI, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is accused of running a vast drug trafficking network, reportedly smuggling 60 metric tons of cocaine annually into the U.S. and Canada, generating over USD 1 billion per year, reportedly with the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Specific allegations against Wedding include:
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Ordering the January 2025 murder of a federal witness in Medellín, Colombia.
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Directing the November 2023 killings of two people in Ontario, Canada, due to mistaken identity involving stolen drugs.
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Ordering a May 2024 murder in Canada over a drug debt.
Additional charges include witness tampering, intimidation, money laundering, and running a continuing criminal enterprise. Wedding evaded law enforcement for over a decade before surrendering at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City on January 22, 2026.
Wedding’s romantic relationships were reportedly closely linked to his criminal network. He married Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno in 2011 while serving a Texas prison sentence for drug-related offenses.
Miryam, an entrepreneur of Iranian descent from British Columbia, is alleged to have acted as a financial facilitator, laundering proceeds and aiding violent acts to expand Wedding’s criminal empire. The couple later divorced, with Miryam now labeled as his estranged wife, her American assets frozen under U.S. Treasury sanctions.
Wedding also had a romantic relationship with Daniela Alejandra Acuña Macías, a 23-year-old Colombian national introduced by Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, who allegedly runs a high-end prostitution network in Mexico City.
Daniela is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wedding while knowing the money was tied to drug trafficking.
She reportedly funded a luxurious lifestyle in Mexico and assisted Wedding by tracking rivals. Like Miryam, Daniela was placed on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list in late 2025, freezing her U.S.-based assets.
The story of Ryan Wedding serves as a stark reminder of how fame, opportunity, and a single misstep can spiral into decades of infamy.
From representing Canada on the Olympic stage to allegedly orchestrating murders and billions in drug trafficking, Wedding’s life reads like a dramatic thriller a story of glory, fall, and dark reinvention that has now captured the attention of the world.
