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Later in the morning, FBI Director Kash Patel touted the arrest as a testament to the importance of international and domestic collaboration, listing the Mexican government, multiple U.S. agencies and the Royal ºÃÉ«tv Mounted Police as key players in the operation.

Speaking from the tarmac at California's Ontario International Airport, Patel compared Wedding — whom he dubbed "the largest narco trafficker in modern times" — to a modern-day El Chapo or Pablo Escobar, referring to the notorious Mexican and Colombian drug lords.

"This individual and his organization and the Sinaloa Cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America and killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our citizens," Patel said.

"And that ends today."

Officials declined to give details of the arrest, citing the ongoing investigation, but said Wedding was in custody and would make his first appearance in court on Monday. 

U.S. authorities are still seeking others for their alleged role in the criminal enterprise, they said.

Mexico's security secretary said on social media that a ºÃÉ«tv citizen had turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy. A member of Mexico’s security cabinet told The Associated Press that individual was Wedding. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Wedding, who authorities said has been on the run for years, is alleged to have ordered the murders of several people, including a witness who could testify against him in a 2024 narcotics case.

The hunt for the Thunder Bay, Ont., native intensified last year after U.S. officials placed Wedding on the FBI's Top 10 most-wanted list and put up a $15-million reward for information leading to his capture. Patel would not comment on the reward when asked about it on Friday.

Wedding's arrest should come as good news to the people and families he tormented, Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said in the news conference.

Though the organization's victims may never be the same, "today, they get the justice that they sought," he said.

It also marks a "great day for public safety in Canada," RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said in a statement.

"The capture of Ryan Wedding after a yearslong investigation, and this most recent achievement, demonstrates the importance of international collaboration and the success that can be achieved when law enforcement shares intelligence," he said, adding RCMP worked closely with the FBI throughout the investigation.

Wedding competed for Canada as a snowboarder in the 2002 Winter Olympics. ºÃÉ«tv and American law enforcement officials allege that in the years that followed the Salt Lake City games, he became deeply involved in drug trafficking. 

He was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010. U.S. authorities have alleged that after Wedding's release from prison, he resumed drug trafficking under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

U.S. court documents said Wedding's drug trafficking enterprise brought cocaine from Colombia into Mexico, then used semitrailers to distribute the drug in the United States and Canada. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused Wedding of being the largest cocaine trafficker in Canada. 

Officials said Friday the organization shipped roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine through California on its way to Canada and used Los Angeles as its primary point of distribution.

Eight ºÃÉ«tvs were arrested in November as part of the ongoing investigation into Wedding, including an Ontario lawyer accused of advising the murder of a federal witness and a jeweller who U.S. authorities allege was the "de facto bank" for the criminal enterprise.

The RCMP have said that Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015.

This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Jan. 23, 2026.

-with files from The Associated Press