Authorities make pivotal move in locating disgraced Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding with $15m bounty
Police are continuing their hunt for Ryan Wedding, with the latest development seeing them carry out a series of raids in Mexico.
Wedding, a snowboarder who previously represented Canada in the Olympics, is now on the FBI's most wanted list and has been hailed as a 'modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar' by FBI director Kash Patel.
The disgraced athlete is allegedly 'responsbile for engineering a narco-trafficking and narco-terrorism program' that the American authorities have 'not seen for a long time'.
On top of this, the 44-year-old is said to have orchestrated multiple murders, including the killing of a government witness in January.
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With the nature of his alleged crimes in mind, the FBI are offering a whopping $15,000,000 for information leading to Wedding's arrest.
A new photo was shared of Wedding earlier this month, which is believed to have been taken at a property in Mexico (where he's believed to be hiding out) last summer.
As it's thought that Mexico is where Wedding is currently located, authorities in the country have recently carried out a series of raids on four properties and have seized dozens of expensive items thought to be owned by Wedding.
Some of the items seized include 62 high-end motorcycles, two vehicles, methamphetamine, marijuana, artwork, ammunition, and documents, CTV News reports.
Two Olympic medals were also found, but police have not disclosed who the medals belong to.
The likes of the Mexican navy, national guard, and the Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) are said to have been involved in the raids, says CBC.
Ken Gray, a former FBI agent and senior lecturer at the University of New Haven, has branded the recent raids as a 'significant step' in locating Wedding.
"Despite the fact that they didn’t capture Ryan Wedding in these raids, this is a significant step in that it shows that Mexican authorities are taking this seriously now and that they are making efforts to locate Ryan Wedding and attack his organization," he told CTV News.
Echoing similar sentiments, fellow former FBI agent and federal prosecutor M. Quentin Williams said the authorities are 'closing in on [Wedding]' and 'they’re closing in on his location'.
People who believe they may have information on Wedding and his whereabouts are urged to contact the FBI via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram (neither government-operated nor government-controlled platforms) at (424) 495-0614.
You can also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
Niamh Shackleton