{"id":429608,"date":"2026-01-24T05:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T05:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429608\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T05:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T05:47:08","slug":"swift-transfer-of-ryan-wedding-from-mexico-to-u-s-raises-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429608\/","title":{"rendered":"Swift transfer of Ryan Wedding from Mexico to U.S. raises questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

This still photo taken from video and provided by the FBI shows Ryan Wedding being taken off a plane at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, Calif. on Friday.<\/p>\n

The circumstances of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding\u2019s arrest<\/a> and swiftness of his transport from Mexico to the U.S. are raising concerns about the handover, which appears to have sidestepped the norms that have typically dictated such cross-border operations.<\/p>\n

Top law enforcement officials from Canada and the United States stood shoulder-to-shoulder in California on Friday morning, to announce the capture of Mr. Wedding in Mexico the previous evening.<\/p>\n

By Friday evening, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation released a video of Mr. Wedding, handcuffed and surrounded by officers, stepping off a plane in California. <\/p>\n

A more conventional process was followed in Canada in November, when the RCMP, at the behest of the U.S. Department of Justice, arrested eight Canadians facing charges in the U.S. in connection to their alleged ties to Mr. Wedding. The accused are now awaiting extradition hearings in Canada, which could be long and complicated, experts have said.<\/p>\n

Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico on multiple charges of drug trafficking and murder, authorities announced on Friday (Jan 23). Wedding was among the FBI\u2019s most-wanted fugitives,<\/p>\n

The Associated Press<\/p>\n

U.S. authorities declined to comment Friday about the circumstances of Mr. Wedding\u2019s quick transport out of Mexico. <\/p>\n

But Robert Currie, a professor of law at Dalhousie University in Halifax warned about the implications of apparently disregarding extradition proceedings. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a due process problem when we sacrifice extradition just because the alleged offender is supposed to be very dangerous,\u201d Prof. Currie said. \u201cIf you start down that slope there will always be reasons we shouldn\u2019t follow ordinary procedures.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added that if lawful processes are being devalued by the U.S. and Mexico, it could devalue extradition treaties elsewhere \u2013 including Canada. <\/p>\n

Who are the Canadians facing charges connected to Ryan Wedding?<\/a><\/p>\n

Early last year, Mr. Wedding\u2019s alleged No. 2, Canadian Andrew Clark, was similarly transported quickly to the U.S. after his arrest in Mexico, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s demands that Mexico crack down on cartels.<\/p>\n

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has followed a policy of appeasing Mr. Trump in hopes of avoiding tariffs with dozens of handovers of suspected cartel leaders for U.S. prosecution.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has further threatened to pull the U.S. out of its free-trade deal with Mexico and Canada, which is up for renegotiation this year, and fears over this prospect is particularly acute in Mexico, where an end to free trade could throw millions out of work.<\/p>\n

Despite this pressure, Ms. Sheinbaum has drawn a red line with the U.S. over violations of Mexico\u2019s territorial integrity, including by asserting her country\u2019s right to lead its own law enforcement operations. She has repeatedly said \u201csovereignty is non-negotiable\u201d \u2013 and reiterated the message this month after Mr. Trump renewed threats to send U.S. troops into Mexico to fight drug cartels.<\/p>\n

A timeline of Ryan Wedding\u2019s shift from Olympic snowboarder to alleged drug kingpin and his arrest<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Sheinbaum\u2019s government also opposed Mr. Trump\u2019s FBI-led operation in Venezuela this month to capture former president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. \u201cThe government of Mexico energetically condemns and rejects the military actions recently executed unilaterally by the U.S.\u2019s armed forces,\u201d a statement from the Mexican foreign ministry read.<\/p>\n

On Friday, U.S. FBI director Kash Patel said the arrest of Mr. Wedding happened in Mexico City on Thursday night, but he could say nothing more due to \u201coperational sensitivities.\u201d In his remarks, Mr. Patel repeatedly thanked the rigour of an FBI Hostage Rescue Team, a unit which has a taken on a dual role in covert counterterrorism missions. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur FBI HRT teams executed with precision, discipline and total professionalism alongside our Mexican partners to bring Ryan James Wedding back to face justice,\u201d Mr. Patel said. <\/p>\n

Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder suspected of becoming a cocaine smuggling kingpin, has been arrested in Mexico, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Friday in Ontario, California.<\/p>\n

Reuters<\/p>\n

Mexican officials did not answer questions about the FBI operation, saying instead that Mr. Wedding voluntarily surrendered at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City. <\/p>\n

Ms. Sheinbaum\u2019s office circulated a press release from U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson, published several hours after Mr. Patel\u2019s news conference, pointing out that the Spanish version of the U.S. government release used the same \u201cvoluntary surrender\u201d language as the Mexican government.<\/p>\n

The English version said Mr. Wedding\u2019s surrender happened after \u201cpressure applied by Mexican and U.S. law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Sheinbaum\u2019s office did not respond to a question about what specifically U.S. and Mexican police did to secure Mr. Wedding\u2019s surrender. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: This still photo taken from video and provided by the FBI shows Ryan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-429608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}