Canadian Olympic Snowboarder Accused of Using USDT to Commit Murder

Key Points:

• Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, faces criminal charges for leading an international cocaine trafficking ring.
• The gang used the cryptocurrency USDT to facilitate drug payments, with over $3.2 million in crypto, firearms, and over a ton of cocaine seized.

The US Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding for his involvement in what officials described as an international cocaine trafficking operation.

Read more: Tether Collaboration With DOJ Freezes $6M In Crypto-Scam Proceeds

Canadian Olympic Snowboarder Accused of Leading Cocaine Trafficking Ring

Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, has been accused of operating a narcotics trafficking syndicate responsible for smuggling tonnes of cocaine from Colombia into both the U.S. and Canada via Mexico. The operation allegedly used the stablecoin Tether (USDT) to facilitate payments.

Indictments revealed that the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 other defendants engineered the large-scale cocaine shipments, adding that drug transactions were allegedly paid through Tether, one of the widely used cryptocurrencies.

The payment for USDT was via QR codes. According to the authorities, this billion-dollar operation included violent acts, the killings of which Wedding is said to have ordered. Tether is now the third-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap and is extensively used across the world in digital asset trading.

The DOJ said $3.2 million of cryptocurrency, guns and over a tonne of cocaine were seized in connection with the case. U.S. authorities also seized $255,400 in cash along with approximately 1,800 kgs (1.8 metric tons) of cocaine.

Officials Offer $50,000 Reward as Fugitive Snowboarder Remains at Large

According to officials, the Canadian Olympic snowboarder, along with Andrew Clarke, had operated a drug-smuggling scheme in Canada. This network employed trucks and stash houses to smuggle Colombian cocaine from Mexico into North America.

The operation is alleged to have carried out numerous murders to protect its criminal enterprise, including several shootings in the Greater Toronto Area. U.S. authorities have issued a $50,000 reward for the capture of Wedding, considered a fugitive from justice. Due to this, the former athlete still roams free.

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