Mexican authorities say they’ve seized Olympic medals, luxury motorcycles, drugs, and artwork in a series of coordinated raids that appear tied to the international manhunt for former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding.
In a statement released this week to CBC News, Mexico’s security secretariat confirmed that four properties in Mexico City and the surrounding State of Mexico were searched as part of a multi-agency operation.
While officials stopped short of naming Wedding directly, they said the raids targeted a foreign former Olympian who is currently listed among the most wanted fugitives by U.S. authorities. Mexican media later identified the suspect as Wedding, the only Olympian fitting that description.
According to officials, items seized during the operation included 62 high-end motorcycles, two vehicles, two Olympic medals, methamphetamine, marijuana, ammunition, documents, and several works of art.
Authorities did not clarify who the medals belonged to. Wedding competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom.
The raids involved Mexico’s navy, the national guard, and federal agents from the attorney general’s office, marking the most public acknowledgment yet by Mexican authorities of actions connected to the search for Wedding.
U.S. and Canadian investigators allege that Wedding transitioned from elite athlete to the leader of a sprawling drug-trafficking network with ties to the Sinaloa cartel.
Authorities say the organization generated more than $1 billion annually and was linked to multiple murders. The U.S. government is currently offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Wedding’s capture.
Last month, U.S. officials seized an ultra-rare Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Roadster in Miami, valued at roughly $13 million, which prosecutors say was connected to Wedding’s alleged money-laundering network.
The FBI has also released new photos of Wedding, believed to have been taken in Mexico in 2024, as part of a broader effort to generate tips.
“We believe there are potentially people in that area who have information about his whereabouts,” FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller previously told CBC News, referencing the capital’s suburbs.
Wedding remains at large. Mexican and U.S. authorities have not said whether the seized properties were directly owned by him.