Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico and will be extradited to the US after years on the run.
Wedding, who had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved tonnes of cocaine across international borders.
Wedding, 44, was also wanted on murder charges.
US officials had said they believed Wedding was living in Mexico under the Sinaloa drug cartel's protection.
While speaking during a joint press conference with FBI Director Kash Patl, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Mike Duheme says no single agency or nation can combat transnational organised crime alone.
He says they can finally say that their communities, countries, are much safer with the arrest of Ryan Wedding.
Wedding is expected to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.
He is accused of running a vast drug trafficking operation responsible for importing some 60 metric tonnes of cocaine a year.
The organisation operated across North America, as well as several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and was also the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, bringing in an estimated US$1 billion a year.
Before he was arrested, Wedding was accused of killing a federal witness in a case against him.
Officials say he has also ordered the murders of several others.
Wedding is now facing a slew of felony charges, including witness tampering and intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.
The FBI had previously placed a US$15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Patel declined to comment on whether anyone would be claiming the reward money.
Source: BBC News
