A Thunder Bay man who was among the FBI’s most wanted is now behind bars.
Ryan Wedding was captured in Mexico on Thursday night.
Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic Snowboarder, is accused of being the kingpin of a Mexican drug cartel that has moved millions of dollars in illegal drugs into the United States and Canada.
He is also being linked to several murders, including the killing of a federal witness last January.
The search for Wedding involved several law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Patel would not disclose any details about how Wedding was found and apprehended.
“To safeguard the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we will not go into that,” says Patel.
“I think it goes without saying, to go down to Mexico to find a guy who’s been on the lam for multiple years for some of the most egregious crimes on planet Earth takes an interagency-wide effort led by President Trump, our DOJ, and our partners in Mexico, and (we are) very grateful for that partnership.”
During their investigation, 36 other people were arrested for their roles in the organization, including a Canadian identified as Wedding’s lawyer.
Authorities also seized mountains of drugs, cash, weapons, and property, most recently dozens of motorcycles worth approximately $40 million.
Wedding is being held in custody in the United States and is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday.
Several other people are still wanted.
The State Department is offering a reward of $2 million for information leading to their arrests.
The FBI offered $10 million, later bumping it to $15 million for information leading to Wedding’s arrest.
Patel would not say whether that funding had been issued.
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