The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in coordination with the FBI, Department of Justice, and Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), announced sweeping sanctions against Ryan James Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned international narcotics trafficker and fugitive on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California also announced indictments against Wedding and his associates, while the State Department increased the reward for information leading to his capture to up to USD 15 million.
Once celebrated for competing in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Wedding is now accused of running one of the world’s most violent drug trafficking networks — responsible for multi-ton cocaine shipments from Colombia and Mexico to North America, as well as dozens of murders across several countries, including killings of US citizens. Treasury also imposed sanctions on nine individuals and nine entities tied to his operations, exposing a transnational web of facilitators spanning Mexico, Canada, Colombia, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
In addition to the individuals, OFAC also added twelve cryptocurrency addresses to its SDN list. These wallets span five blockchains — Bitcoin, Ethereum, TRON, BNB Chain, and Solana — reflecting a cross-chain laundering strategy typical of large-scale narcotics and money-laundering networks.
Global Criminal Network and Key Enablers
According to US authorities, Wedding leads a vast criminal enterprise that launders drug proceeds through cryptocurrency, luxury assets, and front companies. In Mexico, he is protected by Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado (“the General”), a former law enforcement officer with ties to senior officials who provides protection and intelligence to locate targets. Vazquez controls several Mexico-based fuel and energy companies — VRG Energeticos S.A. de C.V., Grupo RVG Combustibles S.A. de C.V., and Grupo Ares Imperial S. de R.L. de C.V. — now designated for serving as fronts for the network. Wedding’s wife, Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno, was sanctioned for laundering funds and facilitating acts of violence, while Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, a Colombian national who operates a high-end prostitution network in Mexico, allegedly helped organize the January 2025 murder of a federal witness. Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias, Wedding’s Colombian partner, collected large sums from Wedding while knowingly aiding his criminal activities.
Wedding’s Canadian attorney, Deepak Balwant Paradkar, played a pivotal role in expanding the network’s reach, introducing Wedding to cocaine suppliers and assisting in bribery, surveillance, and murder plots. OFAC said Paradkar even enabled Wedding to monitor privileged communications between other clients he sought to target, receiving payment through luxury watches and illicit retainers.
Money Laundering Through Luxury Assets and Cryptocurrency
Treasury also detailed an extensive money laundering architecture led by Rolan Sokolovski, a Canadian jeweler who ran Toronto-based 2351885 Ontario Inc., operating under the name “Diamond Tsar.” Sokolovski allegedly moved millions in cocaine proceeds using cryptocurrency while concealing profits through jewelry and high-value assets.
Working alongside him, Gianluca Tiepolo, a former member of Italian special forces, managed Wedding’s fleet of luxury cars and motorcycles, including a USD 13 million Mercedes CLK-GTR seized by the FBI. Tiepolo used companies in Italy and the U.K. — Stile Italiano S.R.L., TMR Ltd., and Windrose Tactical Solutions S.R.L.S. — to disguise ownership of these assets and to operate paramilitary-style training camps for Wedding’s enforcers.
TRM's blockchain analysis of wallets linked to Rolan Sokolovski and Ryan Wedding reveals extensive transactional activity across a wide network of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), including several high-risk exchanges. These interactions suggest a coordinated effort to obtain liquidity and obscure the origin of illicit proceeds tied to their criminal enterprises.
The laundering network demonstrates a deliberate layering strategy — using multiple cryptocurrencies and cross-chain movements to fragment and disguise fund flows. Notably, wallets attributed to Wedding directly interact with an address functioning as an on-ramp for cross-chain swaps, a mechanism commonly used to complicate tracing and enhance obfuscation across blockchain ecosystems.
Two of Tiepolo’s close associates, Cristian Diana (Italy) and John Anthony Fallon (U.K.), were also designated for helping manage the front companies and conceal illicit wealth. Fallon controls LMJ Trading Ltd. and Made in Italy Motorcycles Ltd., both now sanctioned. Collectively, these entities formed a transatlantic network that laundered drug profits, hid assets under shell ownership, and facilitated the global expansion of Wedding’s cartel operations.
Sanctions Framework and Enforcement Implications
All of today’s designations were made under Executive Order 14059, which targets those materially contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production. As a result, all property and interests in property of the designated individuals and entities that fall under U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Treasury emphasized that any entities owned 50% or more by designated persons are automatically subject to blocking.
OFAC underscored that these actions represent part of a whole-of-government approach to disrupt global narcotics networks and their financial enablers, especially those using digital assets and transnational business fronts to launder proceeds.
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