Executive Summary
- FBI agents positively identified fugitive Ryan Wedding in Mexico City in January 2024 but did not arrest him due to jurisdictional issues.
- The surveillance operation utilized an informant, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who was later assassinated in Colombia in 2025.
- Authorities delayed apprehension to gather evidence against the broader transnational criminal network.
- Wedding’s alleged second-in-command, Andrew Clark, was arrested in Mexico in October 2024.
- The reward for information leading to Wedding’s capture has been raised to $15 million.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents confirmed they successfully located Ryan James Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin, at a coffee shop in Mexico City in January 2024, according to U.S. court documents. Despite positively identifying the fugitive through surveillance and voice confirmation, authorities did not execute an arrest at the time due to jurisdictional complexities and ongoing investigative objectives involving the collection of evidence against his alleged transnational criminal network.
The surveillance operation, detailed in federal court filings, took place on January 22, 2024. Agents observed Wedding entering a Starbucks in Mexico City accompanied by another individual later identified as Andrew Clark, his alleged second-in-command. To confirm the target’s identity, investigators compared his appearance against a 2013 Quebec driver’s license photo. Confirmation was secured when agents heard the suspect identify himself as “Ryan” inside the establishment. This encounter marks the only publicly confirmed sighting of Wedding since he fled criminal charges in 2015.
According to retired FBI special agent Kenneth Gray, the decision not to arrest Wedding immediately was heavily influenced by international legal constraints. Gray noted that any apprehension on Mexican soil requires the intervention of Mexican authorities. Even with precise location data provided by the FBI, there is no guarantee of immediate action by foreign law enforcement, which poses a risk of tipping off the suspect if the operation fails. Furthermore, federal prosecutors indicated that the bureau was prioritizing the broader dismantling of the “Wedding Criminal Enterprise,” which is alleged to traffic approximately $1 billion in cocaine annually.
The meeting in Mexico City was reportedly facilitated by Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a convicted drug trafficker turned FBI informant. Court records state that Acebedo-Garcia, who wore a recording device during the encounter, had been cooperating with law enforcement to mitigate his own potential prosecution. While Acebedo-Garcia provided critical intelligence regarding the network’s logistics—including plans to ship thousands of kilograms of cocaine to Canada—he was subsequently assassinated. On January 31, 2025, one year after the surveillance operation, Acebedo-Garcia was fatally shot in Medellin, Colombia.
Following the surveillance operation, U.S. and international authorities moved against the network’s infrastructure. Andrew Clark was arrested by Mexican naval forces near Guadalajara in October 2024. However, Wedding remains at large, with the FBI recently adding him to its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list and increasing the reward for information leading to his arrest to $15 million. He faces a superseding indictment in the United States charging him with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine.
Transnational Investigative Challenges
The sequence of events highlights the intricate difficulties inherent in dismantling transnational criminal organizations that operate across sovereign borders. While intelligence gathering may be successful, the operational execution of arrests often hinges on diplomatic channels, extradition treaties, and the readiness of local law enforcement partners in jurisdictions like Mexico and Colombia. The assassination of a key informant further underscores the extreme violence and counter-intelligence capabilities associated with high-level narcotics trafficking. It is important to note that all individuals named in indictments, including Ryan Wedding and Andrew Clark, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
