U.S. prosecutors charged two men in separate indictments over alleged support for Canadian former Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding’s drug network, accusing them of helping move narcotics and evade authorities.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a six-count indictment against Roberto Gomez, 51, on Nov. 10. It said prosecutors had separately unsealed a two-count indictment against Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, 42.
The indictment alleges Gomez served as an intermediate narcotics supplier to multiple transnational criminal organizations from 2016 to 2026. Prosecutors say he cultivated relationships with people who had access to law-enforcement-sensitive information from Mexican and U.S. agencies, then passed information to alleged co-conspirators, including Wedding.
The indictment describes cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl moving from Central America into Mexico by air and sea, then overland to the United States and Canada. Prosecutors also allege Gomez tried to arrange a sale of about 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine for roughly $550,000 in cryptocurrency.
In Vazquez’s case, prosecutors allege he supplied cocaine to Wedding’s organization, gave members rotating code words for use at checkpoints in Mexico and paid Mexican public officials to slow investigations, discard or manipulate evidence, and dismiss charges. The DOJ says Vazquez helped Wedding evade U.S. law enforcement from October 2024 to January 2026. It said Mexican police killed Vazquez last week.
A conviction on all counts could bring Gomez at least 10 years in federal prison, with a maximum sentence of life. The DOJ cautioned that the charges are allegations and that guilt must be established in court.
