From Vancouver to Veracruz: Ryan Wedding’s Cartel Ties Exposed
Canadian Businessman-Turned-Fugitive Linked to Mexican Drug Cartels, Financial Crimes, and Global Money Laundering
VANCOUVER, B.C. — What began as a promising career in sports and finance has now spiralled into one of the most high-profile international fugitive cases in recent Canadian history.
Once a Vancouver entrepreneur and Olympic hopeful, Ryan James Wedding is now the subject of a global search, with ties spanning from the Pacific Northwest to the cartel heartlands of Veracruz, Mexico.
U.S. federal authorities, working with Canadian and Mexican counterparts, have linked Wedding to one of Mexico’s most violent and well-organized criminal networks, exposing a trail of drug money, front companies, encrypted communication networks, and ghost identities.
As investigators piece together how a Canadian national came to manage financial operations for a drug cartel, the case of Ryan Wedding has become a chilling reminder of how white-collar skillsets are increasingly being weaponized by organized crime.
From Snowboards to Syndicates
The wedding’s backstory reads like a rise-and-fall narrative from a Netflix thriller. Once a competitive snowboarder with Olympic aspirations, he reinvented himself in the early 2000s as a venture capitalist and financial services executive.
But beneath the surface, documents now reveal Wedding was allegedly brokering deals not for investors, but for narcotics traffickers and arms dealers. Between 2012 and 2022, Wedding reportedly used his Vancouver-based firms to facilitate money laundering on behalf of a cartel faction operating in Veracruz.
Authorities believe Wedding played a critical role in:
- Establishing front companies for fake import/export operations
- Facilitating real estate purchases in Vancouver and Puerto Vallarta for laundering drug profits
- Using cryptocurrency tumblers and offshore accounts to obscure cartel financials
- Drafting fraudulent SBLCs (standby letters of credit) to back fake loans and cover cartel movement of funds
“He had the mind of a financier but the ethics of a cartel kingpin,” said one federal investigator familiar with the case. “Ryan Wedding bridged two worlds—white-collar finance and narco violence.”
The Veracruz Connection
Veracruz, a coastal Mexican state long plagued by cartel conflict, became a central hub for Wedding’s alleged operations. Intelligence from both U.S. and Mexican sources confirms that Wedding built strong ties with a splinter faction of the Los Zetas cartel, known for its ruthlessness and sophisticated smuggling routes.
Wedding’s contribution, however, was not muscle—it was financial engineering.
His Vancouver offices allegedly served as the coordination center for setting up dummy corporations that laundered cartel profits through Canada’s relatively lenient corporate registration systems. These funds were then routed through Caribbean banks before returning to Mexico as “clean” capital used to buy weapons, bribe officials, and expand cartel territory.
One Canadian intelligence officer described Wedding as “a clean front for dirty money,” stating:
“He wasn’t just laundering money. He was designing entire ecosystems that sustained cartel operations.”
Shell Games and Violence
Court filings reveal that at least five shell companies linked to Wedding were registered in British Columbia between 2015 and 2021. All of these entities were later found to have no employees, offices, or legitimate business operations. These entities were used to issue fake invoices, sign fraudulent trade contracts, and justify international wire transfers exceeding CAD 80 million.
One 2020 transaction involved a fabricated seafood import deal between Vancouver and Veracruz valued at $9.8 million. No shipments occurred, but the payment was processed and quickly moved through crypto accounts linked to cartel handlers.
Investigators have since tied this transaction to an arms purchase in Honduras.
The laundering wasn’t always bloodless. In 2022, an accountant in Vancouver flagged one of Wedding’s firms for suspicious activity and was later hospitalized following a violent home invasion. Authorities now believe this was a direct intimidation tactic linked to the cartel network protecting Wedding.
Case Study 1: The Veracruz Estate
In early 2023, Mexican authorities raided a 12-bedroom luxury estate in Veracruz owned by a corporation registered to a nominee in Vancouver. The estate included a private airstrip, an encrypted communications center, and luxury vehicles. Forensic audits traced the funding to shell firms tied to Wedding’s business group.
Confiscated documents included ledgers and false identity records, suggesting Wedding’s role extended beyond laundering money to creating synthetic identities for cartel logistics operatives.
Case Study 2: Crypto and the Vancouver Casino Loop
Another investigation revealed Wedding used VIP rooms in Vancouver-area casinos to convert dirty money into chips, play short sessions, and then cash out clean winnings. Surveillance footage and transaction records showed that over CAD 3 million passed through Wedding’s associates using this method, later converted into cryptocurrency and routed to wallets in Mexico and Dubai.
The casino activity coincided with major fentanyl shipments intercepted at U.S. ports, pointing to Wedding’s role as the financial switchboard for larger operations.
International Arrest Warrant and Red Notice
The wedding is now wanted in connection with multiple felony charges, including:
- Conspiracy to launder drug money
- Wire fraud
- Obstruction of justice
- Identity fraud
- Racketeering under the RICO Act
Interpol has issued a Red Notice, making him a global fugitive subject to arrest and extradition. Authorities believe he may be hiding in either Panama, Dubai, or the Philippines, where he reportedly maintains access to false documents and protected criminal networks.
A $10 million reward is now offered through the U.S. Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
What Amicus International Says About the Case
Experts at Amicus International Consulting, a global leader in legal identity and citizenship solutions, say this case underscores the urgent need for legal reform in identity verification, company registration, and second passport acquisition.
“The Wedding case illustrates the darkest misuse of financial tools designed for legitimate commerce,” said an Amicus spokesperson. “When criminals exploit legal identity mechanisms, everyone suffers—from citizens to law enforcement to the global financial system.”
Amicus continues to assist law-abiding clients in obtaining second citizenships, protecting privacy, and ensuring financial compliance across borders, strictly within the bounds of international law.
How the Public Can Help
Anyone with information about Ryan James Wedding’s whereabouts is urged to contact:
- Interpol tip line: www.interpol.int/Contact
- FBI’s public tip portal: https://tips.fbi.gov
- U.S. State Department: TOC@state.gov
Confidentiality is assured, and tipsters may be eligible for the $10 million reward.
📞 Contact Information
Phone: +1 (604) 200-5402
Email: info@amicusint.ca
Website: www.amicusint.ca
