I’m Carmen Amato, a CIA veteran turning real-life danger and deception into crime fiction. Welcome!
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The true story of Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding reads like a spy/murder/crime fiction whodunnit.
The premise of world-class-athlete-turns-narco makes for riveting storytelling that could find its way into a future Detective Emilia Cruz novel.
But his capture is another mystery altogether.
(Photo courtesy CBC)
Wedding is a former Olympic snowboarder from British Columbia, Canada. He won a bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom event at the 1999 Junior World Championship and a silver medal in the 2001 Junior World Championships before competing in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He achieved 24th place in the men’s parallel giant slalom event.
With that disappointing finish, he went back home and began a narco career.
Step one was a huge marijuana farm.
Step two was cocaine smuggling.
In 2010, he was convicted after a US sting and served 2 years in prison. After his release, Wedding headed to Mexico and linked up with the Sinaloa cartel, then the fiefdom of notorious kingpin El Chapo.
By November 2025, reward for his capture was $15 million. Wedding faced US and Canadian charges of witness intimidation, murder, and money laundering.
After weeks of buzz about Wedding being on the US Most Wanted list and speculation about him hiding out with the Sinaloa Cartel (the same Sinaloa Cartel that kept a fugitive El Chapo tucked away for quite some time until Sean Penn came along) Ryan Wedding was picked up in Mexico on 22 January.
How did it happen? Accounts differ.
1. According to Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and her security chief Omar García Harfuch, Wedding gave himself up to the US Embassy in Mexico City. As proof, Sheinbaum presented an Instagram post of Wedding, which has since proven to be AI.
2. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, who just happened to be in Mexico at the same time, said in a press conference afterwards that Mexican security forces and “our teams on the ground” nabbed Wedding and took him into U.S. custody.
3. According to U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, Wedding surrendered in response to “pressure applied by Mexican and U.S. law enforcement working in close cooperation and coordination.”
Director Patel’s comments were supported by a Wall Street Journal article claiming FBI and Mexican officials worked together, which refutes President Sheinbaum’s claims.
Did President Sheinbaum lie? If so, why?
In BARRACUDA BAY, the US Drug Enforcement Agency arrives in Mexico, not to capture Mexican narcos but to nab US diplomats laundering money.
There’s a reason why fictional agents Rick Bowen and Nina Torres didn’t run after the equally fictional Sinaloa-esque Barrielos Luna Organization.
Authenticity.
Back in 2021, Mexico imposed crippling restrictions on DEA and other federal agencies’ ability to operate in Mexico. The Merida Initiative, the 2007 landmark deal to jointly combat organized crime, basically evaporated. A Mexican police drug unit that worked with the US was disbanded. For a time, Mexico refused to grant visas to DEA officers.
President Sheinbaum inherited these restrictions, and has little domestic support for lifting them.
So was Wedding’s capture a joint operation that she can’t acknowledge for political reasons?
If the FBI was involved on the ground, exactly how did that work?
I’d love to know details, but the bigger issue is that Director Patel just squeezed President Sheinbaum into a corner. Not a good move, if Washington wants her continued cooperation.
Bottom line—who gets the $15 million reward?
This image is of a real house built into the side of a cliff above the Pacific Ocean. It’s for sale for a mere $4.5 million in Ixtapa, not far from Acapulco.
One amazing feature of the house, which is built into a cliff, is a gangplank jutting towards the ocean.
In the next Detective Emilia Cruz novel, DRAGON CARTEL, this is the home of a Ryan Wedding-like cartel figure. Emilia goes to the house to investigate and runs into trouble:
~
“Say it,” Flores shouted furiously. He stood up and jammed the gun into her throat. “Say it! Say it! I’m El Barracuda.”
“You’re El Barracuda,” Emilia whispered hoarsely.
“Again,” he shrieked.
“You’re El Barracuda.”
“Yes, I am,” Flores said in triumph.
“Okay.” Emilia struggled to stay calm. Flores was insane. Her only hope was to keep him talking until Cardona got there. “You’re El Barracuda. I respect that. But it’s over--.
“See, tío?” Flores interrupted, speaking loudly to his phone screen as if recording video. “She knows. Her last thought was of me. Not you. Me.”
The other man hoisted Emilia to her feet, then slung her over his shoulder in a classic fireman’s carry. Her head bobbed and the handcuffs cut into her skin and her bound arms rubbed against the back of her heavy bulletproof vest as he carried her.
He was strong but grunted a little with the effort. Before Emilia could comprehend where he was taking her, his footsteps beat hollowly on the gangplank suspended over the ocean.
“Stop!” Emilia screamed as fear flooded her veins. “Stop. We need to talk! Nestor! Listen to me!”
Still sitting on the circular drive, Flores seemed very far away.
The man stopped at the end of the gangplank. He braced himself against the iron railing.
And flung Emilia, handcuffs and all, over the side.
~
Do you need to catch up with Detective Emilia Cruz before DRAGON CARTEL hits stores later this year? Get BARRACUDA BAY today!
FYI—this newsletter is getting a refresh. I’m aiming for less fuss, more focus. Watch this space!
Thank you for spending this time with me.
All the best, Carmen
PS: A percentage of book sales and affiliate links go to support veterans and first responder organizations. When you buy a book, invite me on a podcast or recommend this newsletter, you help me help others. Thank you.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
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