U.S. authorities have arrested Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder, on charges of running a violent transnational drug trafficking organization that heavily relied on cryptocurrency and stablecoins to move and launder proceeds from cocaine sales. Wedding, 44, was taken into custody in Mexico City and is being transported to the United States to face charges including cocaine trafficking and murder, according to a statement from FBI Director Kash Patel.
Wedding had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 2025, with a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest. Authorities allege he played a major role in a sprawling network that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California into the U.S. and Canada, operating in coordination with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Wedding and a network of associates and front companies in November, stating the group used cryptocurrency to finance operations and launder drug money while concealing the origins of illicit wealth. Court filings and Treasury sanctions link the alleged operation to activity across multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and BNB Chain.
Prosecutors have cited the use of stablecoins, including a documented transfer of roughly 17,300 USDT tied to a cocaine deal. Treasury sanctions added a dozen crypto addresses linked to Wedding and his associates, describing a multi-chain laundering operation consistent with the scale of the alleged trafficking. This case reflects a broader enforcement trend where U.S. authorities track wallet activity across multiple chains, with stablecoins drawing particular attention for their use in cross-border illicit trade.
Beyond drug trafficking, Wedding is accused of ordering the murder of a cooperating federal witness in Colombia in January 2025 and directing retaliatory shootings in Canada. A superseding indictment from June 2024 charges him with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, major drug trafficking offenses, and murder.
