FBI Arrests Ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding for Alleged Drug Trafficking Using Cryptocurrency
- Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the U.S.
- Wedding is accused of being a violent cocaine kingpin linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
- He was on the FBI’s top-10 wanted fugitives list for cocaine trafficking and murder.
- The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in November for using cryptocurrency to launder drug proceeds.
- Wedding competed in the Salt Lake City Olympics in which he finished in the top half of his event.
U.S. authorities have highlighted that Wedding’s criminal organization utilized cryptocurrency networks to conceal significant amounts of illicit wealth derived from drug trafficking activities.
The arrest underscores ongoing efforts against drug trafficking organizations leveraging technology for money laundering, as evidenced by Wedding’s alleged use of cryptocurrency for these purposes. (Source)
