From Olympic gold to 'Public Enemy': the fall of Ryan Wedding

The decade-long manhunt has come to an end. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrest of Ryan Wedding, 44, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, accused of running a vast transnational cocaine trafficking operation and being the instigator of heinous murders. Wedding, who once represented Canada in world competitions, had become one of the US Department of Justice's most wanted fugitives.

The arrest came after Wedding turned himself in at the US Embassy in Mexico City. Known by aliases such as 'El Jefe' and 'Public Enemy', Wedding allegedly operated under the wing of one of Mexico's largest criminal organisations, consolidating an empire linking Colombia, Mexico, the United States and Canada. In 2024, the FBI had placed a $15 million bounty on his head.

Former Olympic athlete Ryan Wedding and his gang of criminals - which includes a Canadian lawyer, a Latino pop star and a professional poker player - are charged in connection with the murder of a witness who was supposed to testify against Wedding's cocaine trafficking ring; the murder took place on 31 January in Colombia, as reported in the official statement.

A Sophisticated System Based on Tether (USDT)

The investigation revealed how Wedding's organisation not only relied on traditional financial channels, but used a complex cryptocurrency-based system to conceal profits from the sale of cocaine. According to the indictment, Wedding used the stablecoin Tether (USDT) to launder money and move the proceeds across national borders without activating bank controls.

The mechanism was meticulously planned:

• Fracking: Large sums of money were divided into smaller transactions.
• Stratification: The funds were routed through multiple intermediary USDT wallets.
• Convergence: The money eventually flowed into a central wallet controlled directly by Wedding.

In November 2024, it emerged that one of the co-defendants received approximately 2 million Colombian pesos, converted from cryptocurrency, as payment for a shipment of approximately 300 kilograms of cocaine. This highlights how stablecoins have become the preferred tool for settling scores in the global black market.

Homicides and Transnational Violence

In addition to drug trafficking, Wedding is accused of violent crimes. Prosecutor Bill Essayli revealed that Wedding was responsible for the murder of a key witness, who was shot five times in the head in a restaurant in Colombia last January. The brutality of the organisation served to protect a multi-billion dollar business that, according to the authorities, supplied much of the North American market.

According to stated by Patel on his X profile, Wedding allegedly ran and participated in a transnational drug trafficking operation that regularly shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, via Mexico and Southern California, to the United States and Canada, operating as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The 2025: Record Year for Crypto Crime

The Ryan Wedding case is not isolated. Recently, the Department of Justice indicted a Venezuelan national for a $1 billion crypto money laundering scheme.

These events are part of an alarming context. According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, cryptocurrency-related crime reached an all-time high in 2025. Illicit addresses received at least $154 billion last year, marking a 162% increase over 2024. This figure underscores the growing challenge for law enforcement in monitoring digital assets that are traceable on the blockchain but offer increasingly advanced obfuscation tools.

The arrest of 'El Jefe' marks a turning point in the fight against digital drug trafficking, but the record numbers for 2025 suggest that the battle against the illicit use of stablecoins has only just begun.

Disclaimer: The cover image was generated via artificial intelligence (AI) and is used for illustrative purposes.