FBI Director Kash Patel’s social media posts have again come under scrutiny after he allegedly shared sensitive details with his 1.9 million followers on X about U.S. involvement in the capture of an alleged drug lord in Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported.
On January 23, the Justice Department announced the arrest of Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder from Canada who was allegedly running a drug trafficking ring that was behind several murders.
Ron Johnson, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said Wedding, who allegedly had the protection of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, surrendered to authorities in Mexico City.
Mexican law restricts foreign agents from conducting operations in the country and requires them to share all information with the Mexican government.
But Patel posted more details about the capture on X, indicating that Wedding was arrested as part of a joint operation on-the-ground between U.S. and Mexican forces. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he also described how the same FBI Hostage Rescue Team that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro also apprehended Wedding.
“This was a complex, high-stakes operation with zero margin for error. I was on the ground with our team in Mexico and witnessed extraordinary teamwork, precision, and trust between our agents and partners in Mexico,” Patel told Vanity Fair.
An FBI spokesperson said the allegation that Patel had shared secret information was “totally false.”
“The operation was a tremendous success in collaboration with our Mexican partners and we look forward to even more work with them in the future. This was our sixth Ten Most Wanted captured in just a year – you don’t get there without strong leadership and partnerships,” the spokesperson told The Independent.
An official confirmed that the post was accurate and coordinated alongside partners as well.
The Independent has asked Ambassador Ron Johnson’s office for comment.
The FBI’s involvement in the operation was intended to be a secret, a U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. Patel’s disclosures appeared to put Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum in a thorny position.
At a press conference Monday, Sheinbaum repeated the assertion that Wedding had surrendered at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
She then shared what appeared to be an Instagram photo from Wedding, which she claimed had come from a “representative” of Wedding, showing the alleged drug lord standing outside the U.S. Embassy.
The Instagram caption read, "After seeking guarantees for a fair process. I have decided to voluntarily turn myself in to the authorities."
However, news outlets quickly noticed the image appeared to be AI-generated. CBC News confirmed the image was AI-generated and that the person behind the Instagram account was unable to provide evidence that the profile was linked to Wedding.
When asked about its authenticity, Sheinbaum defended the Instagram post, “There’s nothing from Meta that says it’s AI, and every social network has that policy,” she said.
However, Wedding’s attorney, Anthony Colombo, said, earlier this week, that his client “was arrested” and “didn’t surrender.”
“If the U.S. government is unilaterally going into a sovereign country and apprehending somebody, you can understand the concern that sovereign entity might have. But he was apprehended,” Colombo told reporters outside the courthouse.
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