FBI arrests former Olympian for allegedly using crypto assets to operate a transnational cocaine trafficking network

Odaily Planet Daily News: The FBI has arrested former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding in Mexico City. The U.S. authorities accuse him of manipulating a transnational drug crime organization and extensively using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for drug money settlement and money laundering.

FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Wedding will be extradited to the United States to face multiple charges, including cocaine trafficking and murder. Wedding has been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 2025, with a reward of up to $15 million.

The U.S. prosecution states that the criminal network, in collaboration with the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. Department of the Treasury previously pointed out that the organization conducted fund transfers across multiple blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and BNB Chain, involving stablecoin payments and exhibiting multi-chain money laundering characteristics.

In 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Wedding, his associated personnel, and shell companies, freezing multiple crypto addresses. Prosecutors also accused him of ordering the murder of informants and planning multiple violent retaliations related to drug transactions. (The Block)