Five days after the arrest of Ryan Wedding in Mexico, accused of drug trafficking in the United States, and after the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum claimed that the former Canadian athlete surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the arrest was carried out through a covert operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The US newspaper highlights that the capture of Ryan Wedding has provoked diplomatic tensions between Mexico and the government of President Donald Trump.

According to the US newspaper, the FBI secretly participated in the operation on January 22, an action that would have remained outside of public scrutiny because Mexican laws prohibit the physical presence of foreign agents in police operations, as well as their direct intervention in arrests or raids within the national territory.

The FBI after new targets in Mexico

The report indicates that the FBI is identifying new targets in Mexico with the aim of carrying out joint operations with Mexican authorities, a strategy that, according to officials from both countries cited by the media outlet, is part of strengthening bilateral cooperation on security matters.

However, the alleged direct participation of the FBI in Wedding's capture has generated concern, since the operation would have exceeded legal limits. established for foreign agencies in Mexico.

Furthermore, President Sheinbaum has defended her discourse of defending sovereignty. On repeated occasions, the Mexican president has expressed that her relationship with the United States is one of collaboration and coordination, not subordination.

Conflicting versions regarding the capture of Ryan Wedding

This week, Sheinbaum stated that Ryan Wedding surrendered at the facilities of the United States embassy in Mexico, citing the message posted by Ambassador Ronald Johnson on his X account.Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic athlete and one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives, is accused by the United States of drug trafficking and alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, to the point of being compared to figures like "El Chapo" Guzman or Pablo Escobar. While Mexican authorities asserted that Wedding surrendered voluntarily at the U.S. Embassy, ??FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the Hostage Rescue Team, the same unit used in high-risk international operations, participated in the operation. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was questioned about the contradiction between the two versions, but avoided directly confronting the U.S. official. "The U.S. authorities told the Mexican authorities that it was a voluntary surrender," the mayor stated. Days later, during her press conference on January 26, Sheinbaum reiterated this position and displayed a photograph from an alleged Instagram account attributed to Wedding, in which The fugitive himself reportedly anticipated his surrender.

Wedding's lawyer denies voluntary surrender

However, The Wall Street Journal quoted Anthony Colombo, the former athlete's lawyer, who denied that his client surrendered voluntarily and maintained that he was arrested in a direct operation. "If the United States government unilaterally enters a sovereign country and detains someone, that nation's concern is understandable," Colombo told reporters outside the courthouse.

Official silence and diplomatic tension

So far, neither government has issued an official statement confirming or denying the FBI's direct involvement in the arrest, nor regarding the diplomatic implications this case could generate. According to the American newspaper, the episode reflects the growing pressure on the bilateral relationship regarding security, especially given the political context in the United States and the debate about possible direct actions against drug cartels on its territory. Mexican.

The charges against Ryan Wedding

Canadian Ryan Wedding faces 17 charges, including murder, to which he has already pleaded not guilty. For a decade, he was one of the FBI's most wanted, and much of that time he resided in Mexico, where he operated a criminal organization primarily dedicated to trafficking cocaine from Colombia to Canada, with routes that crossed Mexico and the United States.

According to information from U.S. authorities, Wedding was protected by the Sinaloa Cartel during the years he was a fugitive, a period in which he managed to consolidate his drug trafficking empire in North America.