Inside the Mexico City auction of Canadian trafficker Ryan Wedding’s US $40 million motorcycle collection

A collection of luxury motorcycles formerly owned by Canadian drug lord Ryan Wedding is expected to put close to 60 million pesos (US $3.2 million) into Mexico’s Treasury by end-of-day Thursday. The government raked in more than half of that total during the first day of a two-day auction at which 62 high-end and competitive motorcycles — valued at approximately US $40 million — were up for sale by the Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the Public (Indep). About 100 collectors and specialty companies were on hand to participate on Wednesday when 30 bikes were on the block, with one U.S. company sweeping up nine motorcycles for 17 million pesos (US $913,000) Wednesday’s collection from the sale of the first 30 lots exceeded 30 million pesos (US $1.6 million), according to Indep. More than 600 lots of movable goods were up for sale during this week’s proceedings, although the motorcycles were the headline attraction. Wedding’s motorcycles were seized last December after authorities raided four properties in Mexico City and México state linked to the former Olympic athlete known as The King of Cocaine. Among the first items made available to bidders was a Ducati Desmosedici GP15 motorcycle, a prototype with which the Italian manufacturer competed in the premier class of the MotoGP World Championship in 2015. The opening bid was US $112,000. The collection includes Ducati models used by renowned racers such as Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez. Some pieces are racing prototypes and historic examples from MotoGP and Superbike. There are also classic Kawasaki, MV Agusta and Yamaha models manufactured in the 1950s. Bids reached record highs compared to starting prices, and the most sought-after item was a 2006 Ducati Desmosedici GP7, which started at 2.5 million pesos (US $134,000) and reached 4.5 million pesos (US $242,000). Wedding, who was arrested in Mexico in January, is in a U.S. federal prison in Los Angeles awaiting trial on charges of murder and leading a transnational cocaine trafficking network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. The resources obtained from the sale of the seized assets will be allocated to the Office of the Presidency, and will be used to finance social justice projects, including actions benefiting the widows of the 2006 Pasta de Conchos mine disaster and communities of the Indigenous Raramuri and Amuzgo peoples. The auction also included aircraft, boats, jewelry, electric vehicles, personal cars and armored vehicles. With reports from El País, Aristegui Noticias and Radio Fórmula