- Trending
- Comments
- Latest
Federal agents have arrested Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who spent more than a decade on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, charging him with running a billion-dollar cocaine trafficking operation for Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel that allegedly used cryptocurrency to launder massive drug proceeds.
Wedding, 44, was extradited from Mexico on Friday after surrendering at the US Embassy, ending one of the FBI’s longest-running manhunts involving an elite athlete turned fugitive.
In a statement, US Attorney General Pam Bondi described Wedding as a “onetime Olympian snowboarder-turned alleged violent cocaine kingpin,” saying he will face federal charges tied to narcotics trafficking, murder, and operating a transnational criminal enterprise.
Authorities allege Wedding oversaw cocaine shipments from Colombia into the United States and Canada through networks linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.
At its peak, officials estimate the operation generated more than $1 billion annually, with crypto money laundering playing a key role in concealing proceeds.
“The use of cryptocurrency allowed this organization to obscure financial trails and rapidly move funds across borders,” a senior Justice Department official said during a press briefing in Southern California.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest in a post on X, crediting close cooperation with Mexican authorities. “After more than a decade on the run, Ryan Wedding is finally in US custody,” Patel said, adding that cartel protection had enabled him to evade capture for years.
Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Wedding voluntarily surrendered at the US Embassy before being handed over to federal agents. Patel later told reporters that Wedding had been hiding in Mexico for over 10 years, shielded by organized crime networks deeply embedded in crypto money laundering operations.
Wedding arrived Friday at Ontario International Airport in California, where federal officials showcased seized assets including firearms, luxury vehicles, and artwork allegedly tied to the criminal enterprise.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Wedding in November, accusing his organization of using digital assets to launder narcotics profits.
In its notice, Treasury officials said cryptocurrency was used “to obscure the flow of funds and conceal large sums derived from international drug trafficking.”
Blockchain analytics firms have repeatedly warned that crypto money laundering remains a favored tool for sophisticated criminal groups.
“While blockchain is transparent, criminals still exploit weak compliance controls and cross-border loopholes,” Chainalysis noted in its latest crime report.
This is not Wedding’s first brush with US law enforcement. In 2008, he was arrested in California in a cocaine trafficking sting involving a Vancouver-based network. He was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to four years in prison, later resurfacing as a fugitive tied to escalating cartel violence and advanced crypto money laundering methods.
The arrest comes amid growing alarm over crypto-enabled crime. According to Chainalysis, illicit cryptocurrency addresses received a record $154 billion in 2025, underscoring how crypto money laundering continues to evolve despite regulatory crackdowns.
In a separate case, US prosecutors recently charged 23-year-old Brooklyn resident Ronald Spektor with stealing roughly $16 million in crypto from nearly 100 Coinbase users through phishing and social engineering scams.
“Crypto is no longer a fringe issue—it’s central to modern criminal finance,” said former federal prosecutor Elie Honig. “Cases like Wedding’s show how digital assets intersect with organized crime at the highest levels.”
As investigators signal further arrests, the Wedding case stands as one of the most dramatic examples yet of how crypto money laundering can bridge elite sports, global cartels, and modern financial systems—with devastating consequences.
