Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding and 15 others have been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly running a large cocaine smuggling operation from Mexico to the US and Canada. The indictment accuses Wedding and his associates of shipping 60 tonnes of cocaine a year from Colombia using long-haul semi-trucks. Wedding, a fugitive who goes by aliases such as El Jefe and Public Enemy, faces charges in both the US and Canada for drug trafficking. One of his co-defendants, music executive Nahim Jorge Bonilla, was arrested at his luxury mansion near Miami for receiving cocaine from Wedding and another co-defendant, Andrew Clark, to distribute. Bonilla was allegedly threatened with harm to his family if he did not repay his debts to Wedding and Clark. US authorities seized cocaine, weapons, cash, and cryptocurrency in connection to the investigation. Wedding, who previously served time in prison for drug trafficking, is believed to have resumed trafficking for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The group is also allegedly responsible for the murders of two individuals in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment. Of the 16 people involved in the conspiracy, four remain fugitives while the others have been arrested in various locations. Wedding’s co-defendant Clark, known as “The Dictator”, was arrested by Mexican authorities. US authorities are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of Wedding.
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