The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the arrest of Ryan Wedding on charges of cocaine trafficking and murder. Wedding is alleged to have run a transnational drug trafficking ring, using cryptocurrency to transfer and launder proceeds from the operation.
This event further demonstrates the growing Vai of digital assets, particularly stablecoin payments, in supporting illicit financial activities.
FBI ends decade-long manhunt.
According to the FBI, Wedding, a 44-year-old former Canadian Olympic skier, was arrested Thursday night. This arrest marks the end of a more than 10-year manhunt for one of the most wanted individuals by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Wedding reportedly turned himself in at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, according to Mexican authorities.
Wedding was arrested for his involvement in operating a transnational drug trafficking ring controlled by one of Mexico's largest organized crime groups . Authorities also stated that Wedding frequently used multiple aliases, most notably "El Jefe" and "Public Enemy".
"He is accused of operating and participating in a transnational drug trafficking ring, regularly transporting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California into the United States and Canada – as a member of the Sinaloa cartel," FBI Director Kash Patel Chia on social media.
In 2024, the FBI offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Wedding's arrest.
Two months ago, Chief Prosecutor Bill Essayli revealed in a press conference that Wedding was also directly involved in the murder of a witness – a victim who was shot five times in the head at a restaurant in Colombia in January 2024.
Authorities also emphasized that Wedding's operations relied on cryptocurrency for money laundering and transferring assets across borders.
USDT wallets are used to conceal the source of funds.
According to the indictment, Wedding's organization concealed much of the cocaine trafficking proceeds by using both US dollars and Canadian dollars, along with various cryptocurrencies.
Authorities believe the organization used a sophisticated Tether based system to carry out this operation.
Their plan was to Chia down large sums of money into smaller transactions, then transfer them through multiple intermediary USDT wallets before consolidating them in a central Tether wallet controlled by Wedding.
The indictment also revealed that in November 2024, another suspect received approximately 2 million Colombian pesos for operational purposes, and this money is suspected to have been converted from cryptocurrency to pay for nearly 300 kg of cocaine.
Wedding's case is just one of many recent cases of money laundering through cryptocurrency. Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice also indicted a Venezuelan citizen accused of using crypto in a $1 billion money laundering scheme .
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency-related crimes set new records in 2025.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, illicit wallet addresses received at least $154 billion last year, a 162% increase compared to 2024.
