A Sinaloa cartel operative says U.S. authorities are exaggerating the role of former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding, whom they allege is a major cocaine trafficker protected by the cartel in Mexico.
In an interview with CBC News in northwestern Mexico, the operative said he only learned Wedding’s name recently through media reports, despite the cartel having done business with Canadian drug buyers for more than two decades.
“They say he’s the new Chapo,” the operative said, referring to former cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. “They are inflating this person to make it huge news when they finally catch him.”
The U.S. Justice Department alleges Wedding, 44, lives in Mexico under cartel protection and runs a network that has moved large quantities of cocaine into the United States and Canada. FBI Director Kash Patel has called him the “new El Chapo,” and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said his organization moved many tonnes of cocaine. The U.S. State Department is offering a $15-million reward for his capture.
Wedding, who competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Olympics, has been a fugitive since 2015 and was added to the FBI’s most-wanted list earlier this year.
The operative questioned claims that Wedding could move as much as 60 tonnes of cocaine in a year without deep local backing. “Personally, I think it’s too large of a job for a Canadian,” he said.
He also said the cartel is unlikely to be protecting Wedding, citing an internal war between rival Sinaloa factions that has left thousands dead and drawn heavy Mexican military and police presence in the region.
Mexico’s National Guard commander in Sinaloa, Maj.-Gen. Julices Julián González Calzada, told CBC News that Wedding is not on their radar and that authorities have no specific information about him in the state.
The operative said the Sinaloa cartel has operated in Canada for at least 25 years and described Canadian clients as high-level traffickers who pay premium prices due to distance.
U.S. officials maintain Wedding is a key figure in international cocaine trafficking, while cartel sources interviewed by CBC News dispute the scale of his alleged role.