The FBI’s arrest of long-hunted drug kingpin and former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding marks the sixth top-10 most wanted fugitive captured by the bureau under President Trump — capping a “historic” year at the agency, Director Kash Patel announced.
Patel, speaking Friday at Ontario International Airport in California after Wedding’s arrest in Mexico City, touted the FBI’s successes over the past year in bringing criminals to justice in record-breaking numbers.
“Today we are announcing the capture of another FBI’s most wanted, top-10 fugitive, Ryan Wedding,” Patel said. “That makes six top 10 FBI captures in one year alone.”
“To put that in perspective, that’s two more than the entirety of the prior administration,” Patel said, referring to the Biden administration.
The agency made 67,000 arrests in the past year, a 200% increase from the previous year, Patel told reporters.
In addition to capturing six of the FBI’s top 10 most wanted criminals, “the FBI has also seized enough fentanyl to kill 150 million Americans — a 31% increase,” Patel boasted.
Patel said it’s also made 35% more arrests of foreign espionage actors from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Additionally, the feds have found and identified 6,000 missing children this year, which is up 22%, he said.
He also trumpeted the 20% decline in the US murder rate under Trump.
“That is an all-time record for the modern era,” Patel said.
Patel said another top-10 wanted fugitive was captured in Mexico last week and will soon be transported back to the United States to face charges.
