Fugitive L.A. narco charged in Olympic snowboarder’s billion-dollar drug ring

Fugitive L.A. narco charged in Olympic snowboarder’s billion-dollar drug ringJosh DuBose Fri, November 13, 2026 at 3:39 AM UTC

A reputed South Los Angeles gang member who has spent years as a fugitive in Mexico has been charged with helping former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding operate a billion-dollar international drug trafficking organization and providing sensitive law enforcement information to help the operation evade authorities.

Roberto Gomez, 51, a reputed member of the 38th Street gang, was charged in a six-count federal indictment announced Tuesday, Nov. 10, by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Gomez, also known as "Rob Flores," "Fat Boy," "Fats," and "Rooster," formerly lived in the Central-Alameda neighborhood of South Los Angeles.

Federal prosecutors allege that Gomez established relationships with members of the Sinaloa Cartel and Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG, as well as individuals with access to confidential information from Mexican and American law enforcement agencies.

According to the indictment, Gomez obtained details about arrests, drug seizures, search warrants and criminal charges, which he then passed along to his associates, including Wedding.

Authorities allege the information helped Wedding's organization avoid detection while moving massive quantities of narcotics across international borders.

Wedding, 45, a Canadian national who competed in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics, is accused of overseeing a billion-dollar cocaine trafficking organization and ordering several murders connected to the operation.

The former Olympian, who was previously on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, was apprehended in Mexico in January 2026 and transferred to the United States, where he remains in federal custody awaiting trial.

Prosecutors allege Gomez worked as an intermediary narcotics supplier between 2016 and 2026, coordinating shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl.

The drugs were allegedly transported into Mexico aboard aircraft and maritime vessels through Central America before being moved overland into the United States and Canada.

Gomez also attempted to arrange the sale of approximately 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine to Wedding for about $550,000 in cryptocurrency, investigators said.

The South L.A. gang member fled to Mexico after being charged with two counts of second-degree robbery in Los Angeles County in 2000.

Ryan James Wedding, 43, a Canadian national and former Olympian is shown in this undated image provided by the FBI. Wedding is among the FBI's 10 Most Wanted. (FBI)

Some of the drugs seized by the FBI from the trafficking group led by ex-Olympic athlete Ryan James Wedding. (FBI)

The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $10 million for the arrest and/or conviction of Ryan Wedding, 43, a former Olympic snowboarder. (FBI)

FILE - An image of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who is a fugitive and been charged with allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation, is displayed on a video monitor along with bricks of cocaine, foreground, during a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

He was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in 2018 on drug trafficking and money laundering charges and remains a fugitive in both cases.

In a related development, prosecutors also unsealed an indictment against Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, 42, a suspected Mexican cartel leader known as "El General," who was shot and killed by Mexican police earlier this month.

Authorities allege Vazquez helped Wedding's organization transport cocaine through Mexico by supplying rotating code words that traffickers could provide to corrupt police and military personnel at checkpoints.

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He also allegedly bribed Mexican officials to delay investigations, manipulate or destroy evidence and dismiss criminal cases involving members of the operation.

Vazquez presented himself as a founder and leader of El Cártel Nuevo Imperio, a criminal organization operating primarily in Mexico City, according to prosecutors.

Federal authorities have not disclosed Gomez's precise whereabouts or announced an arrest in the latest case.

He faces charges including conspiracy to distribute and import controlled substances, accessory after the fact and attempting to conduct business with a specially designated narcotics trafficker.

If convicted on all counts, Gomez faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Source: Crime