The FBI arrested a former Olympic athlete suspected of operating a transnational cocaine criminal network using crypto assets.

The FBI has arrested former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding in Mexico City. He is accused of operating a transnational drug trafficking organization and using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins extensively for drug money laundering and settlement. 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 offered for his capture. US prosecutors allege that the criminal network, in cooperation with the Sinaloa Cartel, smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to the United States and Canada. The US Treasury Department previously indicated that the organization used multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and BNB Chain, for fund transfers, involving stablecoin payments and exhibiting characteristics of multi-chain money laundering. In 2024, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Wedding, his associates, and shell companies, and froze multiple encrypted addresses. Prosecutors also accused him of ordering the murder of an informant and planning multiple acts of violent retaliation related to drug trafficking. (The Block)