A collection of 61 rare and high-performance motorcycles valued at an estimated $40 million US, seized from alleged Canadian drug lord Ryan Wedding, will go under the hammer in Mexico next week.
The bikes include models from Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, MV Agusta, Suzuki and Yamaha. According to the FBI, some of them were previously used in professional racing.
The motorcycles were uncovered in December 2025 during raids in Mexico City and the neighbouring state of Mexico at addresses linked to Wedding, who at the time ranked among the FBI's most wanted fugitives. The former Team Canada Olympic snowboarder was arrested in the Mexican capital the following month and flown to the United States, where he remains in custody.
The sale is being handled by INDEP, a Mexican public agency whose name translates as the institute to return stolen assets to the people. The agency shared pictures of the motorcycles on its website and social media accounts ahead of the auction. It did not name Wedding, but announced the bikes were now subject to forfeiture after being seized by law enforcement last December. Some of the models shown match motorcycles seen in images previously released by the FBI, and Mexican media have also reported the link to the Canadian.
Proceeds from INDEP auctions typically fund social services.
Racing enthusiasts who examined photos of the seized bikes last year said some appeared identical to machines used in Grand Prix road races, including a Ducati ridden by Spanish world champion Marc Márquez. "There are maybe 10 or 15 of them that are literally the two-wheeled equivalent of Formula 1 cars," Simon Patterson, a North Ireland-based journalist who covers MotoGP, told CBC News. "All in all, [this is] just an absolutely amazing collection of machines that Wedding has somehow been able to amass."
INDEP said the motorcycles up for sale range from the 1960s to the 2020s, with starting bids running from roughly $1,600 to $192,000 Cdn depending on the bike. Bidders must register by Nov. 10, and the live auction is set to begin the following morning at a banquet hall in Mexico City. In total, 620 lots will be offered, including armoured vehicles, boats and aircraft, though it is unclear whether any of those other goods are connected to Wedding.
The December raids also netted Canadian snowboarding medals, artwork and two vehicles, authorities said at the time. Separately, the FBI in Florida seized an ultra-rare 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Roadster said to be worth $13 million US. The silver two-seater had been purchased by Toronto-area jeweller Rolan Sokolovski, described by U.S. authorities as one of Wedding's two chief money launderers. Big-ticket assets seized by U.S. federal law enforcement are often auctioned as well, but the fate of the Mercedes remains unclear, and an FBI spokesperson declined to comment on Monday when asked whether more Wedding-linked items would be sold.
U.S. authorities say Wedding, also known as "El Jefe" (The Boss), fled to Mexico around 2015, when the RCMP in Montreal sought his arrest. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native then allegedly expanded his purported cartel-linked drug-smuggling operation into a $1-billion US empire, and the U.S. Treasury Department has said he laundered his vast wealth through an "extensive transatlantic network" of associates, businesses and luxury assets including cars and motorcycles.
The 45-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering and murder, and is set to stand trial in Los Angeles next year. Prosecutors have linked his alleged criminal network to multiple killings, including the mistaken-identity shooting of a family in Caledon, Ont.
