In a recent article I reported the case of Ryan Wedding, a Canadian snowboarder in the 2002 Winter Olympics who is now in U.S. custody, accused of being a major drug trafficker with the Sinaloa Cartel.
From the Toronto Star: “Ryan Wedding walked into a California courtroom with a sneer, eyeing investigators in the front row and a swarm of journalists packing the gallery. Once a top FBI fugitive, Wedding finally faced a U.S. judge in federal court this week, where he pleaded not guilty to 17 felony charges — including murder, drug trafficking and other alleged crimes…Mexican and American authorities had cast a wide dragnet to catch the fugitive, and now they have their target. Still, many of the biggest mysteries in this unfolding crime story remain unanswered.”
The U.S. and Mexican governments publicly disagree about how Wedding was arrested.
“Wedding’s capture has become a major diplomatic flashpoint between two governments. At issue: What exactly did U.S. agents do inside Mexico? According to Mexican officials, Wedding voluntarily surrendered himself to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. If you ask American law enforcement leaders, and Wedding’s lawyer, they’d tell you that’s wrong; he was nabbed in what the FBI Director Kash Patel has called a “high-stakes” tactical operation by U.S. agents. The problem is that from the Mexican perspective, the FBI isn’t supposed to be operating on Mexican soil. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has challenged Patel’s description, saying her government would never allow a foreign power to execute such an operation…While the FBI has declined to share more details about the nature of his arrest, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Mexican security forces were closing in when they were joined by U.S. authorities who, following an intense negotiation, apprehended Wedding. It remains unclear if we’ll ever learn the truth.”
Interestingly, FBI Director Kash Patel was in Mexico City when Wedding was detained. And how about this photo of U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson, Mexican Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch, and FBI Director Kash Patel, together?
So how was Ryan Wedding actually taken into custody?