by Stephen Rivers
- Mexican police seized $40M in motorcycles tied to Ryan Wedding.
- The joint operation involved FBI, LAPD, RCMP, and Mexico’s police.
- Wedding is still on the FBI’s Most Wanted list with $15M reward.
Professional athletes tend to have options once their playing days are done. Some pivot into media. Others build up personal brands or invest in business ventures. Then there are those who, for reasons of their own, take a very different path. Ryan Wedding, a former professional snowboarder, is alleged to have done just that.
More: FBI Just Nabbed A $13M Mercedes Tied To A Canadian Olympian Gone Rogue
Last month, authorities seized a $13 million Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR linked to his case. Now, they’re back with something even bigger: $40 million worth of rare motorcycles, all reportedly tied to Wedding’s network.
A Network Spanning Borders
The coordinated operation involved Mexican law enforcement working alongside the FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Los Angeles Police Department. If that doesn’t tell you just how serious this case is, we don’t know what will. Officials haven’t yet detailed inventory but the photos tell us quite a bit.
According to Motorsport, some of the Ducati bikes in the photos include those ridden by “Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovisioso, Loris Capirossi and Andrea Iannone, as well as Marc Marquez’s 2012 title-winning Moto2 bike and Rossi’s championship-clinching 125cc Aprilia.” If that kind of high-end hardware sounds familiar, it’s because Wedding evidently has a love for fast things.
The Mercedes-AMG CLK-GTR seizure from last month automatically put Wedding in rarified automotive territory. It was one of six roadster versions ever built. This new bust suggests Wedding’s tastes are consistent across motorsport. Sadly, it seems that his connection to violent crime and drug running runs just as deeply, if not more so.
From Olympic Dreams To Federal Warrants
Wedding, a Canadian citizen born in 1981, once represented his country at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Today, as a figure on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, he’s facing a staggering slate of charges.
According to authorities, he allegedly ran a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California, ultimately reaching Canada and parts of the U.S.
Prosecutors allege Wedding ordered multiple murders to protect the enterprise, conspired to retaliate against witnesses, and laundered vast sums of money through assets ranging from real estate to high-dollar vehicles. The U.S. State Department has now raised the reward for information leading to his arrest to $15 million, one of the highest bounties currently offered.
Authorities believe Wedding may still be in hiding somewhere in Mexico. They caution that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
