The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has officially launched a manhunt for Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder from Canada. But let’s be real—his days of hitting the slopes are long gone. Instead of chasing medals, he’s now wanted for running an international drug empire.
Wedding has earned himself a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Criminals List, and to speed things up, the U.S. authorities are offering a $10 million reward for any tip that leads to his arrest. Talk about a career change!
What Is Wedding Wanted For?
According to the FBI, Wedding and 15 co-conspirators built a massive cocaine syndicate, trafficking large amounts of cocaine and fentanyl into the U.S. and Canada. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s also suspected of being involved in multiple murders to protect his criminal network.
His alleged accomplice, Andrew Clark, has already been caught in Mexico, but Wedding remains on the run. And he’s not hiding alone—rumor has it that he’s being protected by none other than the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, one of the largest and most violent drug cartels in the world.
But here’s where things get really interesting: Wedding allegedly used cryptocurrency—specifically Tether (USDT)—to launder money and dodge traditional banking regulations. Tether, Tron (TRX), and blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs have since stepped in to support U.S. authorities, freezing $126 million in USDT linked to criminal operations.
Crypto and Crime: A Growing Problem
While crypto has revolutionized the financial world, it has also unfortunately caught the attention of criminal masterminds like Wedding—and he’s not alone. The problem is only getting worse.
Take the infamous Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking collective, for example. They recently pulled off one of the biggest crypto heists ever, stealing a mind-blowing $1.5 billion in Ethereum (ETH) from the crypto exchange ByBit.
Using crypto mixers on THORChain, the hackers successfully laundered most of the stolen funds. Eventually, it is believed that the crypto was converted into Chinese yuan, which North Korea then used to fund military operations and its illegal weapons program.
What’s Next?
With Ryan Wedding still on the loose, the FBI is ramping up its efforts to track him down. The $10 million reward is a clear sign that the U.S. government is taking this seriously.
As for crypto’s role in crime, regulators and blockchain security firms are working overtime to crack down on illicit transactions. But as long as there are bad actors in the space, it’s a constant game of cat and mouse.
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