President Claudia Sheinbaum asserted on Thursday that a Wall Street Journal report aligned with her government’s version of events regarding the arrest last week of alleged drug boss Ryan Wedding, even though it includes information she has previously rejected and which she continues to deny.
On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an exclusive report under the headline “A Secret FBI Bust Nabbed an Alleged Drug Lord — and Rocked Relations With Mexico.”
“Ryan Wedding was on the run,” the report begins.
“Mexican security forces were closing in on the 44-year-old Canadian — a snowboarder who once competed for Canada in the Olympics but has since landed on America’s most-wanted list for allegedly running a vast cocaine-trafficking network — said Mexican and U.S. officials familiar with the operation,” it continues.
“Long protected by Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Wedding suddenly had no options. By the time security forces caught up with him in Mexico last week, the officials said, members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team [HRT] were also involved.”
Citing “some of the officials it spoke to,” the WSJ wrote that “law-enforcement officials made contact with Wedding — presumed to be armed and dangerous — and, in an intense negotiation, reminded him that his associates had been captured and millions of dollars of his assets had been seized.”
“… Eventually, said his lawyer, Anthony Colombo, FBI agents handcuffed Wedding, who was then transported to California and pleaded not guilty in federal court to 17 felony charges, including murder,” the report states.
The WSJ journal didn’t specify whether it was U.S. law enforcement officials, Mexican law enforcement officials or officials from both countries who “made contact with Wedding.”
Nor did it say where FBI agents allegedly handcuffed Wedding.
The publication of the WSJ’s report came six days after FBI director Kash Patel wrote on social media that the arrest of Wedding was the result of “a zero-margin, high-risk operation.”
“Our FBI HRT teams executed with precision, discipline, and total professionalism alongside our Mexican partners to bring Ryan James Wedding back to face justice,” Patel, who was in Mexico at the time of the arrest, wrote on X.
For her part, Sheinbaum says that Wedding turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and has repeatedly denied that there was a joint operation to detain the suspect. She conceded on Tuesday that her government didn’t know “the details” of the alleged surrender, explaining that “what we do know is what the U.S. authorities here told the authorities of Mexico.”
This was a zero-margin, high-risk operation.
Our FBI HRT teams executed with precision, discipline, and total professionalism alongside our Mexican partners to bring Ryan James Wedding back to face justice.
One of the most dangerous criminals in the world is now off the… pic.twitter.com/nP5ElScfNF
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) January 23, 2026
In contrast to Sheinbaum’s denial of a joint operation, the WSJ’s report indicates that there was indeed collaboration between U.S. and Mexican authorities on an operation to capture Wedding.
“The FBI’s involvement in the Jan. 22 operation was intended to be a closely guarded secret,” a U.S. official said. Mexico’s laws ban foreign agents from being physically present in law-enforcement operations on its soil and taking part in detentions or raids. The nationalist ruling party in Mexico is particularly sensitive to foreign interference,” states the newspaper’s report.
It also notes that “Colombo, Wedding’s attorney, has disputed Sheinbaum’s version of events, saying that it isn’t true that Wedding turned himself in at the embassy and that U.S. agents absolutely were involved.”
In addition, the WSJ, citing U.S. officials, wrote that Patel, while in Mexico City, was “quietly working with Mexican partners throughout the operation to arrest Wedding.”
Citing “some of the Mexican and U.S. officials” it spoke to, the newspaper also wrote that “the FBI is now mapping out more targets across Mexico and aiming to do joint operations with Mexican forces against top drug-trafficking targets.”
Sheinbaum: WSJ report ‘clearly states what we’ve been saying’
At her Thursday morning press conference, Sheinbaum was asked whether she and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed “the issue of the FBI and the capture of the ex-athlete” in the telephone conversation they had earlier in the day.
“We didn’t discuss the issue,” she responded.
A reporter then mentioned to the president that the WSJ published a report affirming that there was a U.S. “intervention” and that the intention was to keep the United States’ involvement in the operation to capture Wedding a secret.
“If you read the article from the Wall Street [Journal] carefully, it clearly states that Mexico, the security cabinet, … seized some of his assets,” Sheinbaum said referring to the WSJ’s recognition that “in December, Mexican security forces raided a warehouse full of professional-racing motorcycles allegedly owned by Wedding and worth an estimated $40 million.”
She subsequently said that while the headline says “one thing,” the “first paragraph” of the report “clearly states … what we have been saying.”
“It was a joint operation then?” the reporter asked. “The action [by FBI agents] was allowed [or was it] only Mexicans?” she probed.
“No, let’s see,” responded Sheinbaum.
“This is very important for everyone and also for the people of Mexico: We’re never going to accept joint operations with the United States, or with federal, state or municipal forces of the United States, in our territory,” she said.
“We collaborate, they give us information, we give them information, but the operations in our territory are carried out by Mexican forces. That has to be made very clear,” Sheinbaum said.
“In the article from The Wall Street [Journal] it is very clear how the process occurred,” she said, appearing to accept the content of the report even though it explicitly states that the FBI was involved in the operation to capture Wedding, something the president denies.
“So, I repeat: I am not going to engage in further discussion with the head of the FBI, but it must be made very clear that we do not accept joint operations,” Sheinbaum continued.
To support her government’s assertion that Wedding handed himself in at the U.S. Embassy, the president, on repeated occasions, has pointed to a statement issued by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson. She has emphasized that the statement refers to “the surrender of Ryan Wedding,” but hasn’t focused on the fact that it says that said surrender “was a direct result of pressure applied by Mexican and U.S. law enforcement working in close coordination and cooperation.”
Incongruent versions of events
The WSJ exclusive was widely covered by the Mexican media, with various outlets reporting that it contradicted the Mexican government’s claim that Wedding turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy.
🚨 Al parecer Sheinbaum no leyó bien la nota del @WSJ o no leyó más allá del primer párrafo, porque lejos de respaldar su versión, cita fuentes estadounidenses que aseguran que la operación conjunta debía mantenerse en secreto… 👇 pic.twitter.com/byAd1LwbOY
— Vicente Gálvez (@Vicente_Galvez) January 29, 2026
Therefore, Sheinbaum’s assertion that the WSJ report “clearly states” what her government has been saying does not appear to be logical.
Indeed, she appears to have contradicted herself by saying: “In the article from The Wall Street [Journal] it is very clear how the process occurred.”
Vicente Gálvez, a television and print journalist, wrote on social media on Thursday morning that it appeared that Sheinbaum didn’t read the WSJ report carefully or didn’t read “beyond the first paragraph because far from supporting her version [of events], it cites U.S. sources that claim that the joint operation had to be kept secret.”
The circumstances of the arrest of Wedding are of great interest as U.S. agents in Mexico are legally barred from making arrests, and Sheinbaum has said on repeated occasions that her government will not accept any kind of intervention or unilateral action by U.S. forces in Mexican territory.
The circumstances of the arrest remain murky a week after it occurred. With what appeared to be a simultaneous endorsement and rejection of the WSJ report, Sheinbaum hasn’t made things any clearer.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
