Feds have hit an Olympic snowboarder with criminal charges for his alleged role in a cocaine trafficking gang, which used the stablecoin Tether (USDT) as a key part of its billion-dollar operation. 

A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment filed Thursday alleged that former pro snowboarder Ryan James Wedding and 15 other defendants ran a drug-trafficking syndicate, shipping cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and into the United States and Canada.

The crime gang committed multiple murders as part of their operation, U.S. authorities alleged—and used crypto to try and evade the cops. 

“Defendant Bonilla would tender payment to defendants Wedding and Clark via a Tether cryptocurrency payment service for two kilograms of cocaine,” the indictment reads. It added that QR codes were sent to drug runners in order to receive payment in USDT.

The DOJ said that it had seized over $3.2 million in cryptocurrency, along with more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, and $255,400 as part of the investigation. 

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Author: Mathew Di Salvo