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Mexican authorities say they have confiscated motorcycles, Olympic medals and drugs in a series of raids. The move appears to be related to the hunt for Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding.
The operation represents the most significant series of moves Mexico has publicly acknowledged that appear to be related to the manhunt for a suspected cartel-linked drug lord.
The government statement did not mention Wedda by name but said the raids targeted a foreign former Olympian who is on U.S. authorities' list of most wanted fugitives.
Only Wedding, who was born in Thunder Bay, Ont., and competed in snowboarding at the 2002 Utah Olympics, fits the bill. Mexican media also named the 44-year-old man as the target of the operation.
Mexico's security secretariat said in a statement that four properties were searched in Mexico City and neighboring Mexico State, a region that includes some suburbs of the capital.
Several agencies participated in the operation, including the Mexican Navy, the National Guard and federal agents from the attorney general's office. General Prosecutor's Office (FGR).
Mexican authorities said the items seized included:
- 62 high-end motorcycles.
- Two cars.
- Two Olympic medals.
- Methamphetamine.
- Marijuana.
- Works of art.
- Ammunition.
- Documents.
It is unclear who owns the medals. Wedding finished 24th in the parallel giant slalom in 2002 and did not return to the Olympics.
Drug smuggling charges linked to murders
U.S. authorities and the RCMP said Wedding later turned to a life of crime and built a billion-dollar drug smuggling empire linked to dozens of murders. He is believed to be hiding in Mexico.
The US is offering a reward of up to US$15 million for information leading to Vedad's capture.
The US Treasury Department recently said Wedding uses luxury cars, motorcycles, real estate, shell companies and cryptocurrency as part of a “complex web” of assets to protect his vast wealth.
Last month, the FBI in Miami seized an ultra-rare Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR roadster valued at $13 million. A CBC News Investigation it turned out that the car was bought by Roland Sokolowski, a jeweler from Toronto, whom US authorities consider one of Wedding's main money launderers.
US investigators have also previously hinted at Wedding's possible connection to the Mexican capital and the nearby state of Mexico City.
In August, the FBI told CBC it had launched a social media campaign targeting the capital's suburbs in central Mexico, seeking information about Wedding's hideout.
“We believe there are potentially people in the area who have information about his whereabouts,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said at the time.
CBC Public Records Research Revealed Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias, identified by U.S. authorities as Wedding's Colombian-born girlfriend, has an address listed in the region, just outside the western outskirts of Mexico City.
The area is just a short drive from downtown Santa Fe, where Wedding was seen wearing a blue cap and white T-shirt in a 2024 mugshot released by the FBI, according to an analysis by CBC's Visual Investigations Unit.
According to court records, Wedding met with his alleged right-hand man Andrew Clark and drug dealer turned FBI witness Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia at a Mexico City coffee shop in January 2024.
Montreal native Acebedo-Garcia was killed in Colombia a year later in a brazen shooting that U.S. prosecutors say was carried out by Wedding.
Ontario court this week released on bail Deepak Paradkar, the Toronto lawyer who allegedly advised Wedding to commit the murder. Paradkar denies any wrongdoing.
