The U.S. Justice Department Says a Fugitive It Describes as a Reputed Gang Member and a Man Prosecutors Allege Presented Himself as a Cartel Boss Have Been Charged With Helping Canadian Ryan Wedding Run a Billion-Dollar Drug Trafficking Operation and Obtain Law-Enforcement Sensitive Information (November 12, 2026)

The U.S. Justice Department says two men have been charged in separate federal indictments with helping former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, a Canadian national, run a billion-dollar drug trafficking operation and obtain law-enforcement sensitive information to avoid detection. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced the charges in a release on November 10, 2026, and CP24 reported on the case on November 12, saying documents allege Wedding paid about US$500,000 up front and about US$100,000 a month for access to police information. Prosecutors say Roberto Gomez, 51, a fugitive, faces six counts, and that a two-count indictment was unsealed against Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, 42, whom the release says was shot to death by Mexican police the week before the announcement.

Legal status: Charged. The Justice Department states that an indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime and that every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court; none of these allegations has been tested at trial.

The Six-Count Indictment Against Roberto Gomez

Prosecutors describe Gomez as a reputed gang member and a fugitive, and list his aliases as “Rob Flores,” “Fat Boy,” “Fats” and “Rooster.” The release lists his counts as one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to import controlled substances, three counts of accessory after the fact, and one count of attempting to transact and deal with a specially designated narcotics trafficker.

According to the indictment, Gomez met and communicated with leaders of foreign terrorist organizations, which the release says include the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, and cultivated relationships with individuals who had access to law-enforcement sensitive information from Mexican and U.S. agencies. Prosecutors say he obtained information on arrests, drug seizures, warrant executions and the filing of criminal charges, and provided it to co-conspirators including Wedding, whom the release describes as a 45-year-old former Olympic athlete and Canadian national who later turned to drug trafficking and is charged with ordering several murders.

From 2016 to 2026, prosecutors say, Gomez operated as an intermediate supplier of narcotics to multiple transnational criminal organizations including Wedding’s, transporting cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into Mexico by aircraft and maritime vessels through Central America and then by land into the United States and Canada. From October 2024 to January 2026, they say, he assisted Wedding in hindering and preventing his apprehension, trial and punishment in the United States, and attempted to broker the sale of about 1,000 pounds, or 453.6 kilograms, of methamphetamine between a source of supply and Wedding for roughly $550,000 in cryptocurrency. The release says Gomez had earlier been charged in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2000 with two counts of second-degree robbery and indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles in January 2018 on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, and that he is considered a fugitive in both cases. If convicted of all charges he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum of life imprisonment.

The Second Indictment, and a Defendant Prosecutors Say Is Dead

The release says federal prosecutors also unsealed a two-count indictment against Vazquez Alvarado, whose aliases it gives as “El General” and “Mini,” and that he was shot to death by Mexican police the week before the announcement. According to the indictment, he presented himself as a founder and boss of El Cártel Nuevo Imperio, which the release describes as a violent criminal organization.

Prosecutors say he trafficked cocaine for Wedding’s criminal enterprise and supplied its members with near-daily, rotating code words that people moving cocaine loads relayed to Mexican law enforcement and military personnel at checkpoints, letting the loads pass through. They further allege he paid Mexican public officials to slow down criminal investigations, dispose of and manipulate inculpatory evidence, and dismiss criminal charges against members and associates of the enterprise, and that from October 2024 to January 2026 he helped Wedding evade detection by U.S. law enforcement.

What the Reported Documents Say About the Price of Access

CP24, in a report Noovo Info published in French translation on November 12, says documents allege Wedding paid a one-time fee of about US$500,000 to join a network that gave access to sensitive law-enforcement information and to organized-crime figures, followed by average monthly fees of about US$100,000, with additional fees for the sensitive information itself. CP24 also reports that Wedding was arrested in Mexico in January 2026 after being placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, and that none of the charges against him has been tested in court.

The Canadian Thread

The Justice Department says the FBI investigated the matter with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Federal Policing, and that significant assistance was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Buffalo. Wedding is described as a Canadian national, and the alleged trafficking route described in the release runs by land into both the United States and Canada.

Everyone named in this story is presumed innocent, and none of the charges has been tested in court. The allegations are those of the U.S. Department of Justice, as set out in the release of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, and of CP24 as reported by Noovo Info.