Cartel boss helped Olympian traffic drugs, evade capture, U.S. says

A cartel boss shot to death by police in Mexico last week helped Olympian Ryan Wedding traffic drugs and avoid the authorities before his arrest in January 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesdayi. In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors alleged that Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, or "El General," trafficked cocaine for Wedding's criminal enterprise and provided the organization with "near-daily, rotating code words" that were used for safe passage through law enforcement checkpoints. Vasquez, 42, also allegedly paid Mexican public officials to slow down criminal investigations, tamper with evidence and dismiss criminal charges.Vasquez also helped Wedding personally avoid U.S. law enforcement for two years, the Justice Department said. The founder of Mexico City's El Cártel Nuevo Imperio, Vasquez was shot and killed by Mexican security forces attempting to serve an arrest warrant in Naucalpan, Mexico, according to Mexico's Security Minister Omar García Harfuch. Harfuch said Vasquez fired on security forces and was responsible for the 2024 death of Milton Morales, a Mexico City police chief. The U.S. Justice Department also announced a six-count federal indictment against Roberto Gomez, a U.S. citizen and gang member living in Mexico. Federal prosecutors allege that Gomez has spent the past decade as a drug supplier to international criminal organizations, including Wedding's.