TechFlow news, March 7 — According to Decrypt, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has added former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Wedding is accused of leading a transnational drug trafficking organization that smuggled cocaine from Colombia into the United States and Canada via Mexico. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Wedding used Tether (USDT) to launder money and circumvent traditional banking systems.
U.S. authorities claim Wedding is suspected of orchestrating multiple murders to protect his criminal operations, including an attack on a family in Ontario, Canada, in 2023. Authorities believe Wedding is currently hiding in Mexico, possibly under protection from the Sinaloa drug cartel.
If convicted, Wedding faces life imprisonment. This case provides further evidence of cryptocurrency being used in international criminal activities. A November report indicated that Mexican drug cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, rely on Tether to rapidly move illicit funds across borders.
