Treasury Sanctions Former Canadian Olympian and Notorious Narcotrafficker Ryan Wedding

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a sweeping set of sanctions targeting former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding, along with nine people and nine companies believed to be part of his criminal infrastructure. Wedding, now considered one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, is accused of orchestrating a far-reaching and violent transnational criminal empire responsible for multiple murders abroad — including killings of U.S. citizens — while evading capture by hiding in Mexico. From there, officials say, he continues to manage narcotics trafficking, ordered assassinations, and other major criminal operations.

Treasury’s top counterterrorism and financial intelligence official, John K. Hurley, said the purpose of the sanctions is to expose and dismantle the network of associates that support Wedding’s operations. Hurley emphasized that the Treasury Department is acting in coordination with the FBI and the Justice Department in an effort to cut Wedding and his collaborators out of the U.S. financial system and to undermine the profits generated by their drug network.

Simultaneously, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California has issued indictments against Wedding and key members of his organization. Treasury’s actions were also coordinated with Mexico’s financial intelligence agency, and the State Department has increased the reward for information leading to Wedding’s capture or conviction from $10 million to a potential $15 million.

Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, has been linked to massive cocaine shipments passing from Colombia through Mexico into the United States and Canada. Authorities say he uses sophisticated methods to mask the origins of his profits, including extensive use of cryptocurrency, allowing him to move and hide significant sums of illicit money. FBI investigators believe he has ordered numerous killings across several continents, demonstrating a high degree of planning and brutality that has elevated him to one of the world’s most dangerous fugitives.

Federal officials outlined the roles of several individuals who allegedly sustain Wedding’s organization. Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado — nicknamed “the General” — provides protection inside Mexico and reportedly taps into law enforcement sources to locate potential targets for Wedding. Vazquez, thought to be a former Mexican law enforcement officer with connections to senior officials, owns multiple Mexico-based companies used to shield the network.

Wedding’s wife, Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno, has allegedly helped launder drug proceeds and assisted in violent operations. Another identified associate, Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, is a Colombian national involved in running a high-end prostitution network in Mexico. Authorities accuse Valoyes of helping facilitate the killing of a federal witness earlier in 2025. She is also said to have introduced Wedding to his Colombian girlfriend, Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias, who has collected substantial sums of money from him while knowingly participating in the information-gathering efforts used to identify Wedding’s rivals.

Another key figure, Canadian lawyer Deepak Balwant Paradkar, is accused of carrying out illicit tasks well beyond legitimate legal representation. Authorities say Paradkar connected Wedding to major cocaine traffickers and assisted him with bribery and murder schemes. He allegedly betrayed other clients by enabling Wedding to listen to confidential attorney-client conversations involving potential targets. In exchange for these services, Paradkar reportedly accepted luxury watches and other payments.

All of these individuals — along with several companies they own or control — were sanctioned for supporting, enabling, or profiting from Wedding’s global drug operations. Treasury designated Wedding himself for engaging in activities that significantly contribute to the international spread of illicit drugs.

Beyond the violence, the Treasury Department highlighted an elaborate international money-laundering operation that hides drug revenue in luxury vehicles, motorcycles, and other assets scattered around the globe. Two men were identified as central to these financial schemes: Canadian jeweler Rolan Sokolovski and former Italian special forces operative Gianluca Tiepolo. Sokolovski is accused of laundering millions through his Toronto jewelry business and via cryptocurrency transactions, while Tiepolo allegedly managed Wedding’s luxury assets and held them in his own name to obscure their ownership. Tiepolo also operates companies in Italy and the United Kingdom dealing in high-end vehicles and is linked to a tactical training facility believed to have trained Wedding’s hitmen.

Italian citizen Cristian Diana and British national John Anthony Fallon are also tied to Tiepolo’s companies, holding leadership roles or controlling corporate structures used to store and disguise illicit wealth. These individuals and their companies have likewise been designated under the same executive order due to their involvement.

As a result of the sanctions, any assets belonging to the designated individuals or entities that fall under U.S. jurisdiction are now frozen, and Americans are banned from conducting transactions involving them. Companies that are majority-owned by sanctioned individuals are also automatically blocked. OFAC reiterated that violating these restrictions may lead to serious civil or criminal penalties.

Treasury emphasized that the strength of the sanctions system lies not only in its ability to blacklist dangerous actors, but also in its readiness to remove individuals from the sanctions list if they demonstrate a significant change in behavior. The goal, the department noted, is not solely punitive but to encourage a shift away from criminal activity.

Source: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY