Transnational Drug Trafficking

Alejandro Rosales Castillo, an FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive arrested in Mexico, has been transferred to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is in local custody to face charges in the 2016 killing of Truc Quan “Sandy” Ly Le. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the transfer, called it part of a “historic” day that also saw another Ten Most Wanted fugitive returned to U.S. custody and credited administration resources for enabling the captures, while authorities say Le disappeared after meeting Castillo at a gas station over an alleged $1,000 debt and co‑defendants Ahmia Feaster and Felipe Ulloa have been previously charged.

Ex‑Olympian Ryan Wedding pleaded not guilty in U.S. federal court in Santa Ana to an indictment accusing him of running a billion‑dollar cocaine‑trafficking operation that allegedly moved as much as 60 tons of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the U.S. and Canada and of ordering multiple killings in 2023–2025 — allegations FBI Director Kash Patel has compared to a "modern‑day El Chapo" and "Pablo Escobar." Video aired by CBS shows FBI agents escorting Wedding off a plane after his arrest in Mexico and transfer to U.S. custody; Magistrate Judge John D. Early ordered him detained pending trial, set a Feb. 11 hearing and a March 24, 2026 trial date, and Wedding’s attorney disputes Mexican officials’ claim that he surrendered, saying he was arrested while living in Mexico.

The Justice Department says former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, long sought by U.S. authorities as an alleged cocaine kingpin accused of orchestrating multiple murders, has been arrested in Mexico and transferred into U.S. custody. CBS reports that Wedding, once a Canadian Olympian in snowboarding, was picked up by Mexican authorities and handed over to the FBI, which had been hunting him on major narcotics and violent‑crime charges believed tied to cross‑border trafficking networks. Officials have not yet detailed the full U.S. indictment on air, but characterize him as a top‑tier trafficker whose organization stretched across borders and relied on hired killers to intimidate or eliminate witnesses. The case fits a broader Trump‑era push to brand large cartels and their partners as 'narco‑terrorists' and to pursue high‑profile arrests as part of a wider maritime and financial campaign against Latin American drug networks feeding the U.S. market.

Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding — accused by U.S. authorities of running a cocaine‑trafficking ring and orchestrating the killing of a witness in Medellín — surrendered to U.S. officials at the American embassy in Mexico, was taken into custody Thursday and flown to California, where FBI agents escorted him in handcuffs off a plane at Ontario International Airport. The FBI, which added him to its Ten Most Wanted list with a reported $15 million reward, says Wedding is an “extremely violent” suspect believed responsible for multiple murders abroad and that he allegedly used a Canadian website to help identify the Medellín target.

FBI Top Ten fugitive and former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding, 44, was arrested in Mexico on U.S. cocaine‑trafficking and murder charges, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday on social media. U.S. authorities allege Wedding collaborated with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, hid in Mexico, and hired a hit man who killed witness Jonathan Acebedo‑Garcia in Medellín, Colombia; Wedding finished 24th in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.