- Ryan Wedding’s organisation allegedly imported 60 metric tonnes of cocaine into Los Angeles in 2024.
- He and co-conspirators are accused of laundering funds using crypto, luxury goods, and front companies.
- The FBI has issued a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department indicted Ryan James Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic slalom snowboarder, for leading a massive drug trafficking enterprise.
Authorities arrested 10 other defendants involved in what US Attorney General Pam Bondi described as “one of the most prolific and violent” drug trafficking organisations in the world as part of Operation Giant Slalom.
The multi-national drug network used five different blockchain networks to launder the funds from trafficking cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, according to the FBI.
Authorities also point to luxury goods and front companies as vehicles for laundering.
“Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar,” Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said on Wednesday. “He is a modern day iteration of El Chapo Guzman.”
“He is responsible for engineering a narco trafficking and narco terrorism programme that we have not seen in a long time.”
Crypto crime
As part of the indictment, the Office of Foreign Assets Control added a dozen different crypto addresses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and BNB Chain to its sanctions list.
Three addresses on the Tron network have been directly attributed to Wedding by OFAC.
Wedding’s associate, Canadian-Lithuanian national Rolan Sokolovski, bears the remaining nine different addresses.
Sokolovski, a Toronto-based jeweller who ran a business called the “Diamond Tsar,” was primarily responsible for orchestrating the sprawling money-laundering scheme, according to the US Treasury.
Gianluca Tiepolo, a former member of the Italian special forces, assisted Sokolovski by procuring and managing Wedding’s luxury vehicles — including a $13 million Mercedes CLK-GTR — and properties.
Tiepolo also founded a tactical training camp to train Wedding’s hitmen.
$15 million reward
Wedding, who also used the nicknames “El Jefe,” “Jesse King,” and “Giant,” is on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list and is alleged to be under the protection of the lethal Sinaloa cartel.
Authorities allege that Wedding issued orders to murder various individuals, including one witness who was planning on testifying against Wedding in January.
They were executed with five shots to the head in a restaurant in Colombia.
On Tuesday, authorities raised the reward for information that leads to his arrest to $15 million from $10 million.
Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch at liam@dlnews.com.
