Longtime fugitive Ryan Wedding had filed for a court order to avoid his arrest in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico, nearly a year before being apprehended by U.S. authorities last week. Legal documents, initially reported by the Sinaloan news outlet Riodoce, revealed that Wedding, a Canadian accused of leading a cocaine-smuggling network associated with the Sinaloa cartel, was concerned about Mexican authorities closing in on him in early 2025.
In mid-February, Wedding declared in a Mexican federal court filing under oath that local law enforcement had obtained a warrant for his arrest and extradition while he was residing in Los Mochis, a coastal city in Sinaloa. This filing occurred shortly after the FBI intensified its search for Wedding following the murder of a witness slated to testify against him.
Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a known drug trafficker born in Montreal, was assassinated in Medellin, Colombia, on January 31, 2025, allegedly due to Wedding placing a $5 million US bounty on him. Wedding, aged 44, was captured in Mexico and transported to California, where he faces multiple federal charges, including murder, drug trafficking, witness tampering, and money laundering. He has entered a plea of not guilty.
A ruling by a federal judge in Sinaloa on November 4, 2025, mentioned that Wedding’s request for an injunction, known as an amparo, was beyond his jurisdiction as the arrest warrant was issued in Mexico City. The court docket identified the plaintiff as Ryan James Wedding.
Wedding’s defense attorney, Anthony Colombo, acknowledged the legal proceedings in 2025, stating that the use of an amparo in Mexico is common to halt an arrest warrant. Meanwhile, a Mexican judge’s decision indicated conflicting statements from Sinaloa’s public safety director regarding the arrest warrant.
Mexican authorities raided properties linked to Wedding last month near Mexico City, seizing drugs, Canadian snowboarding medals, artwork, and motorcycles valued at $40 million US. Wedding’s alleged accomplice, Andrew Clark, also used an amparo to secure release after being arrested in 2024 but was later detained again and transferred to U.S. custody.
The FBI included Wedding on its top 10 most-wanted fugitives list, describing him as a major narco trafficker protected by the Sinaloa cartel. Reports indicated Wedding’s ties to Los Chapitos, a faction of the cartel associated with El Chapo’s sons. The RCMP initially pursued Wedding’s arrest in Montreal in 2015 for cocaine imports to Canada, with U.S. authorities revealing his extended stay in Mexico since that time.
Wedding’s defense lawyer denied allegations of a decade-long evasion, characterizing it as “living” in Mexico. Authorities highlighted Wedding’s role as a critical logistics operator for the Sinaloa cartel’s drug distribution in North America. Wedding’s arrest was hailed as a significant development in enhancing public safety in Canada.