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, FBI Director Kash Patel has said.

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.

The head of Canada's federal police force, which assisted in the investigation, praised the law enforcement operation alongside Patel.

No single agency or nation can combat transnational organised crime alone, said Mike Duheme, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). We can finally say that our communities, our countries, are much safer with the arrest of Ryan Wedding.

Wedding is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday.

Wedding 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 $1bn 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.

Authorities allege he has ordered dozens of murders across the globe, including in the US, Canada, and Latin America.

Officials say he had been living in luxury in Mexico. In December, Mexican authorities announced that they had seized $40m in racing motorcycles owned by Wedding. They also seized other valuable items, including luxury paintings, artworks, and two Olympic gold medals.

It is unclear to whom the medals belong. Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but did not win any medals.

In November, the FBI seized his rare 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR, which had been valued at $13m.

Patel also noted the recent arrest of another man in Mexico who had been on the FBI's most wanted list.