U.S. alleges bribery shielded Wedding
Original reporting: El Diario de Juárez
What happened
El Diario de Juárez reports U.S. allegations that two intermediaries used bribes, police leaks and checkpoint passwords to protect Wedding’s drug operations.
Reporting and context
U.S. prosecutors allege that bribes, leaked police intelligence and frequently changing checkpoint passwords helped former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding evade arrest and protect drug shipments in Mexico, according to El Diario de Juárez.
The newspaper’s account of Justice Department allegations identifies two alleged intermediaries: Roberto Gómez, 51, an alleged Calle 38 gang member living in Mexico, and Edgar Aaron Vázquez Alvarado, 42, known as “El General” or “Mini.” Mexican police killed Vázquez in the State of Mexico the week before the charges were announced, the report said.
El Diario de Juárez reported that prosecutors accuse Gómez of cultivating contacts with access to confidential Mexican and U.S. police information. He allegedly passed along details of arrests, drug seizures, court orders and criminal charges to Wedding’s organization. The Justice Department also alleges that Gómez communicated with leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Prosecutors identify Vázquez as the alleged founder and leader of Cártel Nuevo Imperio, operating mainly in Mexico City. They accuse him of bribing Mexican officials to delay investigations, remove or manipulate evidence and obtain dismissal of charges against members of Wedding’s organization.
He also allegedly supplied passwords that changed almost daily, allowing cocaine transporters to pass police and military checkpoints. The charges describe assistance by both men to Wedding between October 2024 and January 2026.
The account places Gómez’s alleged drug brokerage activities between 2016 and 2026, involving cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl. Shipments allegedly reached Mexico through Central America by air and sea before continuing overland to the United States and Canada. Prosecutors also allege he tried to arrange a sale of about 453.6 kilograms of methamphetamine to Wedding for approximately $550,000 in cryptocurrency.
Gómez, a U.S. citizen, remains a fugitive in Mexico, according to the report. He fled Los Angeles after facing robbery charges in 2000 and was also charged with drug trafficking and money laundering in 2018. The new federal indictment contains six counts, including drug distribution and importation conspiracy, accessory after the fact and attempted transactions with a specially designated drug trafficker. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life.
Original publication: https://diario.mx/nacional/2026/nov/10/revela-eu-sobornos-a-militares-en-caso-wedding-1148053.html