- An ex-Olympian used USDT stablecoin in a cocaine trafficking network.
- The FBI is offering a $10 million bounty and added him to its Most Wanted list.
Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for running a transnational cocaine trafficking network that used stablecoins like Tether for payments.
The US Department of State is offering up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest.
Wedding allegedly oversaw a criminal enterprise that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California into Canada.
Court filings reveal he used encrypted messaging apps and stablecoins to manage drug transactions, with one tracked USDT payment of $17,300 linked to a deal.
“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Wedding is a very dangerous man.”
Beyond drug trafficking, authorities accuse Wedding of orchestrating multiple murders, including a retaliatory double homicide in Ontario in 2023.
His second-in-command, Andrew Clark, was arrested in Mexico last October and extradited to the US, but Wedding remains at large, possibly hiding in Mexico or Central America.
“The former Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of death and destruction,” said Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division. “He earned the name ‘El Jefe,’ becoming boss of a violent transnational drug trafficking organization.”
If convicted, Wedding faces life in prison.
Tether’s USDT has long faced scrutiny for its use in illicit transactions.
But according to Tether’s own claims, it has worked with law enforcement to freeze over $2.5 billion in illicit funds to date.
This is a near 40% increase from October, when the stablecoin provider reported freezing $1.8 billion.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin has lost 2.7% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $86,350.
- Ethereum is down 2.6% over the same period to $2,140.
What we’re reading
- Bitcoin, Ether dip after Trump ends crypto summit with few surprises ― DL News
- Crypto adoption just got real — Milk Road
- Trump Says He Is Ending Operation Choke Point 2.0 ― Unchained
- Lawmaker sets out to ban CBDCs even though they don’t exist ― DL News
Kyle Baird is DL News’ Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email at kbaird@dlnews.com.
