Mexican Cartel Boss Killed by Police Helped Ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding Evade Arrest, DOJ 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 Tuesday. In an indictment unsealed that day, federal prosecutors alleged that Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, known as "El General," trafficked cocaine for Wedding's criminal enterprise and gave the organization "near-daily, rotating code words" used for safe passage through law enforcement checkpoints.

Vazquez, 42, also allegedly paid Mexican public officials to slow down criminal investigations, tamper with evidence and dismiss criminal charges, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors say he helped Wedding personally evade U.S. law enforcement for two years. Vazquez was the founder of Mexico City's El Cártel Nuevo Imperio.

Mexican security forces killed him in Naucalpan while attempting to serve an arrest warrant, according to Mexico's Security Minister Omar García Harfuch. Harfuch said Vazquez fired on the officers and was responsible for the 2024 death of Milton Morales, a Mexico City police chief.

The Justice Department also announced a six-count federal indictment against Roberto Gomez, a U.S. citizen and gang member living in Mexico. Prosecutors allege that Gomez, 51, spent the past decade as a drug supplier to international criminal organizations, including Wedding's. He primarily transported cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl from Central America to Mexico by plane and boat, then used land routes to bring the drugs into the United States and Canada, prosecutors say. His efforts allegedly included trying to broker the sale of 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine between a supplier and Wedding, a deal worth about $550,000.

From 2024 to 2026, prosecutors say, Gomez also helped Wedding avoid apprehension. The department said his connections with cartels, including the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, and his relationships with people who had access to law-enforcement sensitive information from Mexican and U.S. agencies allowed him to obtain details about law enforcement operations. If convicted on all counts, Gomez would face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life.

The United States has made dozens of arrests while investigating Wedding's international drug trafficking network. Wedding allegedly ran the network as part of the Sinaloa Cartel and orchestrated several killings. FBI Director Kash Patel has called the former Olympian "a modern-day 'El Chapo.'" Wedding was on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List before his arrest.

Wedding faces 17 felony charges, including drug trafficking and murder, across two indictments. He has pleaded not guilty, and the Justice Department said he will remain in U.S. custody without bond. A Mexican judge was arrested last week and charged with taking bribes to free an accused drug trafficker linked to Wedding. The new indictments add to a case that prosecutors say shows how deeply the network reached into Mexican law enforcement and the courts.