Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is having his £30 million superbike collection auctioned to the public after an FBI investigation into his alleged cocaine empire, according to US court papers.
Wedding, 45, known as "El Jefe", is accused of leading a lavish criminal enterprise before an international FBI operation dismantled it. Mexican authorities have announced a major auction in Mexico City on November 11, where bidders can purchase 62 of his motorcycles.
Auction details and assets
The fleet includes bikes from Ducati, Kawasaki, Honda, MV Agusta, Suzuki and Yamaha, with some classic 1960s rarities starting at £850 and reaching £100,000. The FBI claim Wedding raced several of the vehicles in professional events.
Asset agency Indep is also selling the alleged drug lord's wider possessions, including armoured vehicles, aircraft, boats and fine art. Authorities uncovered two Olympic gold medals and a 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster worth an estimated £10 million, purchased through Toronto jeweller Rolan Sokolovski, an alleged chief money-launderer for the gang.
From Olympics to alleged crime
Prosecutors allege Wedding's wealth came from flooding Canada with 60 tonnes of cocaine annually through alliances with Mexican and Colombian cartels, laundering the cash via an "extensive transatlantic network".
His career began in elite sport as a teenage prodigy who joined Canada's national snowboard team at 15. After finishing 24th at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, he quit and turned to narcotics, serving a four-year US prison sentence in 2009 following an undercover FBI sting involving 24kg of cocaine.
Legal proceedings
Wedding allegedly partnered with Mexico's Sinaloa cartel after release, building an empire that US justice officials compared to Pablo Escobar's reign. Court documents allege the network ordered executions of anyone "perceived to be a threat to the enterprise's operations", including alleged hits on an FBI witness and the mistaken-identity killing of an innocent Ontario family.
After a decade on the run and a spot on the FBI's Most Wanted list, Wedding surrendered at the US embassy in Mexico City in January. He remains in custody in Los Angeles, denying all charges of murder, money laundering and drug trafficking ahead of his trial.
