Former Olympian fugitive linked to $40m motorcycle seizure
Authorities in Mexico have seized a vast collection of high-end motorcycles allegedly owned by ex-Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, now one of the FBI’s most wanted drug traffickers.
Authorities in Mexico have seized a vast collection of motorcycles believed to belong to Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder turned alleged international drug trafficker who is now one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives.
According to the FBI’s Los Angeles division, the bikes were uncovered during the execution of multiple search warrants earlier this month. While officials haven’t released an exact count, the bureau claims the collection could be worth as much as $40 million. Images shared by the FBI show long, warehouse-style rows of high-end machines, many of which appear to be MotoGP bikes ridden by the likes of Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, among others.
Wedding, a 44-year-old Canadian national, competed for Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics before his sporting career gave way to something considerably darker. In 2009, he was convicted in the US for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and served time in prison until his release in December 2010. Federal prosecutors allege that, not long after walking free, he established a major drug trafficking enterprise.
That operation, authorities claim, involved the routine shipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, and onward to Canada and other parts of the US. Wedding is also accused of ordering multiple murders in connection with the organisation, including the killing of a federal witness in January 2025.
Charged in October 2024 with a lengthy list of offences – including drug trafficking, money laundering, witness tampering and murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise – Wedding remains at large. He is now on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, with US authorities offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Additional rewards are reportedly linked to information about the murder of a potential witness.
The FBI has urged anyone with information on Wedding’s whereabouts to come forward via encrypted messaging apps, local FBI offices or US embassies. As for the bikes, their ultimate fate hasn’t been confirmed.
We assume they’ll be heading to the auction block soon - so keep ‘em peeled!
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!