Mystery surrounds Ryan Wedding arrest as US and Mexico clash over how Olympic ‘drug kingpin’ was snared

The long-awaited capture of Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin, is still shrouded in mystery with US and Mexican authorities  offering different stories on how he ended up in custody.

Wedding, who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics, was among the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives with the 44-year-old accused of leading a billion-dollar drug-smuggling operation and orchestrating several murders. 

He has been labelled a ‘modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar’ and was believed to be living in Mexico under the protection of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel. 

Wedding spent around a decade on the run before he was brought back to the US by the FBI last week to face 17 felony charges, including murder. He pleaded not guilty.

On the day of his stunning arrest, FBI director Kash Patel claimed on social media that the bureau’s Hostage Rescue Team – who recently captured Venezuelan president  Nicolas Maduro – ‘executed with precision, discipline, and total professionalism alongside our Mexican partners to bring Ryan James Wedding back to face justice.’

Mexico’s security minister Omar García Harfuch, on the other hand, suggested that Wedding turned himself in, while the US ambassador to Mexico, Ron Johnson released a statement about the 44-year-old’s ‘voluntary surrender.’ 

He said the arrest was ‘a direct result of pressure exerted by Mexican and US law enforcement authorities, who worked in close coordination and cooperation.’

Reports south of the border, meanwhile, claimed Wedding turned himself in at 2:40am at the US Embassy after ‘weeks’ of negotiations with the FBI. 

‘The Mexican government privately complained to the United States government because it has allowed the version to spread that it was an operation on Mexican soil,’ one report claimed.

But that version of events was later disputed by Wedding’s lawyer. ‘He was arrested, he didn’t surrender,’ Anthony Colombo said outside court.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Mexican law bans foreign agents from ‘being physically present in law-enforcement operations on its soil and taking part in detentions or raids.’ The country’s ruling party is said to be ‘particularly sensitive to foreign interference.’ 

Earlier this week, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum attempted to address the confusion. She contradicted both Patel and Colombo by insisting there was no US involvement in the operation that led to Wedding’s arrest.

‘I’m not going to get into a debate with the FBI director, nor do I want there to be a conflict,’ Sheinbaum said. 

‘What they, the US authorities, told the Mexican authorities is that it was a voluntary surrender.’

On Wednesday night, the Wall Street Journal detailed another version of events. Citing officials on both sides of the border, the outlet claimed Mexican security forces had been ‘closing in’ on Wedding, who had run out of options.

But by the time Wedding was captured, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team was involved. It’s said law enforcement reached out to the alleged drug kingpin and during ‘an intense negotiation reminded him that his associates had been captured and millions of dollars of his assets had been seized. He was eventually handcuffed by FBI agents.

The bureau’s role in the operation, the WSJ said, was supposed to be a secret. That was until Patel’s social media post.

‘If the U.S. government is unilaterally going into a sovereign country and apprehending somebody, you can understand the concern that sovereign entity might have,’ Colombo said.

Wedding was apprehended at a time when – according to the WSJ – tensions are high between the US and Mexico in the wake of Maduro’s capture and threats by President Trump to launch strikes against Mexican cartels.