Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding arrested after a decade on the run

Law enforcement officials said Wedding's arrest after a decade on the run was the result of a complex, high-stakes mission that involved several agencies. 

However, we're still in the dark about several details, including how investigators knew the Canadian's whereabouts, and whether the $15-million US reward for information will be paid out.

In a social media post, FBI director Kash Patel said Wedding was taken into custody in Mexico last night and would be transported to the U.S., where he's facing several charges related to murder and drug trafficking.

At a news conference today, officials spent a lot of time congratulating each other — but shed little light on how the alleged drug kingpin was finally taken into custody. 

Meanwhile, a prominent Mexican security analyst told CBC News that U.S. authorities were in contact with Wedding before his surrender at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. 

Wedding is set to appear in federal court in L.A. on Monday, where he'll be required to enter a plea.

The FBI has released video of Wedding arriving in the U.S. on Friday following his surrender and arrest in Mexico City. 

The edited clip shows an airliner taxiing into the airport in Ontario, Calif., before an FBI agent leads Wedding, in handcuffs, out of a rear door of the plane.

Wedding — wearing jeans, a grey sweatshirt, black vest and black ballcap — is expressionless as he's led down the stairs and across the tarmac, surrounded by agents.

For those still wondering about the fate of the $15-million US award for information leading to Wedding's capture: a State Department official who spoke to CBC News on background today declined to say whether anyone is eligible to claim the money.

"Only the secretary of state has the authority to determine if a reward will be paid, as well as the amount of the reward to be paid. In cases where there is federal criminal jurisdiction, the secretary must obtain the concurrence of the attorney general," the official said.

U.S. authorities were in contact with Wedding before his surrender at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City, according to a prominent security analyst based in the city. 

David Saucedo, who regularly appears in Mexican media offering commentary on security and political issues, said Patel decided to travel to Mexico City once U.S. authorities and Wedding had agreed on a time for the surrender.

"So [Patel] planned this lightning visit to Mexico to coincide with the surrender of Ryan Wedding, to bolster the perception that, thanks to him, he obtained this major victory with the arrest of the No. 1 fugitive of the United States," Saucedo said.

Saucedo said his information was based on conversations with Mexican security sources. 

He said Wedding was running out of options as Mexican and U.S. authorities closed in on him.  

After losing the protection of the faction of the Sinaloa cartel still controlled by the sons of Joaquín Guzmán — the drug lord known as El Chapo who is serving a life sentence in the U.S. — Wedding faced a choice of turning himself over to Mexican authorities or to U.S. justice, Saucedo said.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Patel offered more details around Wedding's arrest.

The article said the FBI worked with Mexican law enforcement to arrest Wedding in the middle of the night. Wedding was taken into custody after an intense negotiation by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, the same team behind the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to the magazine. 

In his interview with the magazine, which published a profile of his girlfriend yesterday, Patel said the team was prepared to use significant force to take Wedding into custody if necessary.

The field office spokesperson for the FBI in Los Angeles, Laura Eimiller, declined to independently confirm the timeline as laid out in the Vanity Fair article.

"The FBI has confirmed that Wedding was taken into custody in Mexico and returned to the United States this morning. I'm unable to comment further at this time," she said.

Wedding's arrest will resonate with an Indian family whose mother and father were killed in a mistaken-identity shooting in Caledon, Ont., in November 2023.

Jagtar Sidhu and his wife Harbhajan Sidhu were targeted by an unidentified gunman over a stolen cocaine shipment that had passed through southern California. 

Authorities later said the murder had been ordered by Wedding and his alleged second-in-command, fellow Canadian Andrew Clark. Both men are charged with murder in connection with the attack.

The Sidhus' 28-year-old daughter, Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu, witnessed the rampage and was shot 13 times herself. She survived, but suffered what police called "life-altering injuries."

Wedding will be required to enter a plea when he appears in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Wedding faces a list of charges related to murder and drug trafficking, having been indicted twice by grand juries in California since 2024.

In November, authorities in Canada and Colombia made at least 11 arrests in a co-ordinated takedown of Wedding’s network.

Among those arrested was Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, 47, of Bogotá, Colombia. U.S. Treasury officials identified her as a “Colombian national who runs a high-end prostitution ring in Mexico.”

The Treasury previously said in a statement that Valoyes assisted Wedding with the murder of an FBI witness in January 2025.  

“Valoyes introduced Wedding to his Colombian girlfriend, Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias,” the Treasury’s statement read. “Acuna has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wedding, whom she knew from the beginning of their relationship to live a lifestyle funded by violent narcotics trafficking. She has assisted Wedding in obtaining information on his rivals.”

It’s unclear where Valoyes has been held in custody.

In its own statement on Wedding's arrest, the RCMP said, "This is a great day for public safety in Canada" and a success for international co-operation between law enforcement officials.

"The RCMP collaborated closely with the FBI throughout the investigation, in Canada and around the world. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the FBI on their leadership of this investigation and thank them for their collaboration," read a statement from RCMP Comm. Michael Duheme.

Mexico's Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection Omar Harfuch, the country’s top civilian security official, spent about an hour and a half this morning on a stage with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during a morning news conference in the Gulf state of Veracruz. 

The news that Ryan Wedding was in U.S. custody broke during the news conference.

Harfuch did not mention anything about the Wedding case during the event, and no journalists asked any questions on the subject.

At about 9:30 a.m. ET, Harfuch's office sent out a news release and posted a statement on X announcing that a "Canadian" had turned himself in to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City on Thursday. The information was buried at the bottom of a statement about a meeting between FBI head Kash Patel, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and Mexican security officials that was also held Thursday.