Canadian ex-Olympian drug lord arrested in Mexico sparks controversy

Mexico City, Mexico — The arrest of Ryan Wedding, the most wanted Canadian drug lord by the FBI, has sown doubts in Mexico as conflicting accounts emerge about the circumstances of his detention.

What several analysts have described as the federal government’s double discourse regarding the alleged operation of elite military groups already operating in Mexican territory and carrying out operations to arrest important drug trafficking leaders in the country.

This episode adds to the controversial arrival of a U.S. military Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft that was captured landing at Toluca International Airport (AIT) on the morning of Saturday, January 17 of the current month.

And that apparently transported the elite group that captured the Canadian target in support of Mexican authorities.

Unofficial versions claim he was detained by the U.S. Special Forces Delta Group that carried out the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

These events are clearly part of the double discourse and demagogic defense of sovereignty, with the case of the Canadian ex-Olympic athlete turned drug lord, Ryan Wedding, who was detained and extradited to the United States by direct request from FBI director Kash Patel, who compared the first blonde drug lord we know to drug lords like Mexican Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Colombian Pablo Escobar Gaviria.

Therefore, the events give rise to doubts that it was clearly another “offering” from the Sheinbaum administration to the U.S. government, and what quickly went from being a “spectacular and complicated capture” to becoming a “voluntary surrender” of the dangerous Saxon drug lord.

Because from the celebration and the incredible story of a young athlete who traded skis for blocks of cocaine and methamphetamine, it moved to inconsistencies in the versions about how Wedding was arrested after more than a decade of hiding in Mexico and living and operating in Sinaloa for the divided cartel that operates in that state.

First, FBI director Kash Patel himself reported in a statement on his social networks that Ryan Wedding had been arrested in Mexico City in a “high-risk joint operation between Mexican forces that collaborated with FBI agents,” noting that it was from Thursday night that his capture was achieved and that he was placed under the custody of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, which was the same that acted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro Moros in Venezuela.

However, minutes later, from Mexico, federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch gave a completely different version, saying that the Canadian drug lord had “voluntarily surrendered at the U.S. embassy.” Harfuch’s version was the same given by Ambassador Ronald Johnson, who confirmed that the “voluntary surrender of Wedding” occurred after pressure from Mexican government and FBI teams.

And so, was it a capture or a surrender? For now, the first Saxon and blonde drug lord we know, whose arrival yesterday in the United States was celebrated by prosecutor Pam Bondi as an “achievement of President Trump,” is already under the custody of the Department of Justice along with his fame of being “the new Chapo” or the “modern Escobar”….

What is a fact is that doubts will continue as long as the federal government, locked in its double discourse, does not clarify properly or agree with the Americans to deliver harmonized versions.

The convenience is that a powerful drug lord was arrested who had accumulated considerable wealth from drug trafficking and the death of several people.

THE STORY OF THE SNOWBOARDER WHO BECAME A DRUG LORD

The story of an Olympic snowboarder who ventured into a 20-year career trafficking first marijuana and then tens of tons of cocaine across two borders ended last night at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, according to the official version, although it has sown doubts.

The most wanted trafficker by the FBI, Ryan James Wedding, surrendered at the Embassy according to the Mexican version. He was wanted for trafficking and ordering multiple murders, including that of his longtime partner, who became an FBI informant.

After his trip to Mexico City to meet with Mexican officials, FBI director Kash Patel announced the arrest of Canadian trafficker Ryan James Wedding. He was officially arrested by an FBI team at the U.S. Embassy after surrendering. Wedding has already been transferred to Los Angeles as part of a pre-established agreement.

The Canadian drug lord and ex-Olympic athlete Ryan Wedding, Thor, surrendered at the U.S. embassy in Mexico, reported Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch and the U.S. representative here, Ronald Johnson.

“FBI director Kash Patel left today for the United States, carrying with him two priority targets: a non-U.S. person who was detained by Mexican authorities, among the 10 most wanted, and a Canadian who voluntarily surrendered yesterday (Thursday) at the U.S. embassy,” confirmed the Security head on his networks.

The surrender of Wedding occurred in the context of Patel’s visit to Mexico City, where he met with García Harfuch and with the head of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), Ernestina Godoy.

According to the authority, the ex-Olympic snowboarding athlete, one of the criminals most wanted by the FBI and who has been compared to drug traffickers Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Pablo Escobar, had been hiding in Mexico for 10 years.

Separately, the U.S. ambassador confirmed the “voluntary surrender” of Wedding, which “was a direct result of the pressure exerted by the justice authorities of Mexico and the U.S., who worked in close coordination.”

On social networks, he pointed out that this blow is testimony to the collaboration between the U.S. government and the administration of Claudia Sheinbaum so that “criminals are held accountable wherever they operate.”

Both nations, he maintained, are “key partners” in this global effort and have maintained “close and constructive dialogue and cooperation, based on mutual respect and shared responsibility.”

The ambassador recognized, in particular, the “determined work” of multiple authorities, including the Secretariat of Security and the FGR, as well as U.S. justice agencies, including the Department of Justice and the FBI.

The arrest of Wedding, who will be presented in Federal Court in Los Angeles to answer nine charges, “is an example of what can be achieved when we work together as sovereign partners.”

Previously, the FBI director had announced that the ex-Olympic athlete was “captured” and that even the same team that captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela participated in the operation.

“Ryan James Wedding was detained in Mexico last night. He is being transferred to the United States via an FBI flight to face justice,” Patel pointed out on social networks.

Hours later, already on U.S. soil, he asserted that the arrest was “the result of great cooperation and teamwork with the government of Mexico,” led by Sheinbaum.

“This operation is the result of broad and close cooperation and teamwork with the government of Mexico. Special thanks to our incredible partners who facilitated this: President Sheinbaum, Secretary (García) Harfuch and Ambassador Johnson.”

He also recognized Mexican cooperation in the capture of another fugitive, Alejandro Rosales Castillo, carried out on January 16 in Pachuca, Hidalgo, after 10 years of evading justice; he is accused of the murder, in 2016, of Trucho Quan Ly Lee, a coworker, in the Charlotte area.

“This is a great day for a safer North America and a safer world, and a message that those who break our laws and harm our citizens will be brought to justice,” he maintained.

Patel insisted on the version of the capture of the ex-athlete in an interview with Vanity Fair by mentioning that Wedding was delivered to the HRT (Hostage Rescue Team), which participated in the operation to apprehend the former Venezuelan president.

Separately, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi joined the celebrations, affirming that the Canadian drug lord was arrested by agents of her country.

“Under my direction, Department of Justice agents have detained another member of the FBI’s 10 most wanted list: Ryan Wedding, the ex-Olympic snowboarder turned alleged violent cocaine drug lord,” she celebrated on X.

Bondi attributed this blow to “the leadership of President Trump under law and order… criminals have no safe harbor. Director Patel has worked tirelessly to bring fugitives to justice. We are grateful to our incredible Ambassador Johnson and Mexican authorities for helping us in this case.”

Wedding, 44, is accused in federal court, along with 18 other people, of being part of a mega cocaine trafficking operation since at least 2009, in collusion with members of the Sinaloa cartel.

In November 2025, U.S. authorities increased the reward for information that would facilitate his arrest from 10 to 15 million dollars for the person who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

At that time, the head of the Bureau declared during a conference that the Canadian athlete was one of the most powerful drug traffickers in North America.

“Let no one be mistaken, he is the modern version of Pablo Escobar; he is the modern version of El Chapo Guzmán,” he pointed out.

According to said accusation, in possession of this newspaper and presented in Federal Court in Los Angeles, California, Thor headed a network with a value of at least one billion dollars that was the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.

OPERATIONS RECOGNIZED

Kash Patel arrived in Mexico on January 22 to meet separately with Omar García Harfuch and Ernestina Godoy.

“Derived from the agreement reached with the U.S. government, last Thursday we received the visit of the FBI director,” the agencies reported in a joint statement.

In these meetings, which Johnson also attended, “the increase in coordinated operations for the detention of generators of violence and priority targets that impact both countries was recognized” and it was agreed to continue coordinated work for the benefit of both, “with full respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The federal Secretariat of Security and the FGR highlighted in the document the “atmosphere of respect” in the meetings, in which it was also agreed “to continue strengthening coordination, which has already produced relevant results in the detention of priority targets.”