Snowboarder Ryan Marriage ceremony and 15 others are accused of delivery 60 tonnes of cocaine a yr to the US and Canada.
United States prosecutors in Los Angeles, California, have charged a former Olympic snowboarder with allegedly working a big and violent cocaine smuggling operation out of Mexico.
On Thursday, the Division of Justice unveiled a 52-page indictment accusing the 43-year-old Canadian athlete, Ryan James Marriage ceremony, and 15 different individuals, of delivery 60 tonnes of cocaine a yr from Colombia to Canada and the US utilizing long-haul semi-trucks.
The FBI is providing a $50,000 reward for data resulting in the arrest and extradition of Marriage ceremony, who is taken into account a fugitive and makes use of the aliases El Jefe, Big and Public Enemy.
Brokers additionally raided a $5m luxurious mansion close to Miami in South Florida and arrested its proprietor, 36-year-old music government and restaurant proprietor Nahim Jorge Bonilla, who was additionally named within the indictment, The Miami Herald reported.
Bonilla allegedly obtained 12 kilogrammes (about 44lbs) of cocaine from Marriage ceremony and his co-defendant Andrew Clark to distribute. In response to the indictment, Bonilla was in debt to Clark and Marriage ceremony, and the 2 males threatened to kill Bonilla’s mom if he didn’t repay what was owed.
Marriage ceremony, who competed within the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake Metropolis, additionally faces fees in Canada in a separate drug case. He was beforehand convicted within the US of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to jail in 2010, federal data present.
US authorities imagine that, after Marriage ceremony’s launch, he resumed drug trafficking for the infamous Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
“He selected to turn out to be a significant drug trafficker, and he selected to turn out to be a killer,” Martin Estrada, the US legal professional in Los Angeles, advised reporters on Thursday.
Authorities additionally defined that they seized cocaine, weapons, ammunition, money and greater than $3m in cryptocurrency in connection to their investigation.
“Marriage ceremony, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a lifetime of incessant crimes,” mentioned Matthew Allen, the particular agent in control of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Los Angeles.
Of the 16 individuals accused within the drug trafficking conspiracy, 4 stay fugitives, Estrada mentioned. A dozen others had been arrested in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia and Mexico in reference to the case.
The legal enterprise was additionally allegedly liable for the murders of two members of an Indian household on November 20, 2023, in Ontario, Canada, who had been killed in retaliation for a stolen drug cargo.
A minimum of one different individual was additionally killed by the group.
Marriage ceremony’s co-defendant Clark, 34, can be a Canadian citizen. Recognized by the alias “The Dictator”, he was arrested by Mexican authorities on October 8, in keeping with the Justice Division.
