Mexican authorities have seized dozens of motorcycles worth about $40 million in the search for a former Olympic snowboarder on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
Canadian Ryan Wedding, 44, has been accused of running a multinational drug trafficking network and also faces charges in connection with the murder of a federal witness.
US officials believe he is staying in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, and up to $15 million (£11 million) has been offered for information leading to his arrest.
The photo was taken in 2024. Photo: FBI/AP
Mexican authorities executed multiple search warrants this month and seized a large number of motorcycles believed to belong to Wedding.
The FBI estimated the bike’s value at around $40 million (£30 million) in a statement this week.
Photo: FBI
Photo: FBI
Other items seized include artefacts and medals.
The FBI said the seizures were made with the assistance of Mexican authorities.
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Photo: FBI
Photo: FBI
Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he finished 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom event.
The former player has been compared to other famous drug kingpins, including Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar.
Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Photo: Reuters
Last month, a wedding took place, and the accused is charged with conspiring to murder a witness in Colombia to help avoid extradition to America in January.
Ten other defendants were arrested on charges in the federal indictment, which was unsealed in California.
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Authorities have accused Wedding of working with the Sinaloa Cartel to transport large quantities of drugs into the United States and Canada.
Wedding, whose aliases include El Jefe, Public Enemy and James Conrad King, was accused in 2024 of running a drug gang that moved about 60 tonnes of cocaine a year.
They used long-haul lorries to transport drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California, and Canada.
Authorities say he and his co-conspirators used a Canadian website called The Dirty News to post a photo of a witness so he could be identified and killed.
The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medellin and shot in the head in January.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said last month, “Whether you’re a street-level drug dealer… or an international drug kingpin, we’re coming for you.”
