Authorities in Mexico have seized a motorcycle collection worth US$40 million allegedly owned by fugitive Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympian-turned-alleged cocaine kingpin.
Wedding, 44, is on the FBI’s most wanted list and faces several murder and drug charges related to a reported drug empire that stretches across the Americas.
The FBI has said Wedding, who may be living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, could be changing his appearance and hair colour to avoid capture.
Sometime in December, Mexican authorities raided areas related to Wedding and seized the motorcycles, the FBI said in a social media post.
“This successful seizure is a result of collaborative efforts among Mexican authorities, the FBI, RCMP and the LAPD,” the federal agency said.
A new photo of Wedding released earlier this month shows him shirtless, lying on what appears to be a bed. Wedding is pictured with a short beard and short hair, along with a tattoo of a lion’s head on the left side of his chest. The FBI said the photo is believed to have been taken this past summer in Mexico.
Wedding, a snowboarder who was living in Coquitlam, B.C., when he suited up for his country at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list earlier this year.
There is currently a US$15-million reward from the FBI for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Wedding.
“He controls one of the most prolific and violent drug-trafficking organizations in this world,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Nov. 19, adding that Wedding’s alleged empire traffics 60 metric tons of cocaine per year for US$1 billion in illegal proceeds.
“He is the largest distributor of cocaine in Canada.”
Wedding and another Canadian citizen, who was arrested by Mexican authorities last fall, are accused of directing the Nov. 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Caledon, Ont., in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment. Ontario Provincial Police have said the family was “completely innocent” and mistakenly targeted.
Wedding faces separate “unresolved” drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, the RCMP said last October.
He was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. U.S. authorities believe that after Wedding’s release, he resumed drug trafficking and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel.
To date, 36 people reportedly tied to Wedding’s operation have been arrested and charged, and several remain wanted.
— with files from Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea