Code Words and Official Payoffs: Slain Cartel Boss Helped Olympian Ryan Wedding Traffic Drugs, Evade Capture

Allegations against Vazquez

Federal prosecutors allege Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, known as “El General,” moved cocaine for Ryan Wedding’s criminal enterprise. They say he supplied rotating code words, used to pass safely through law enforcement checkpoints.

The Justice Department also alleges Vazquez paid Mexican public officials to delay investigations, tamper with evidence and dismiss charges. It said he helped Wedding personally avoid U.S. authorities for two years before Wedding’s arrest in January 2026.

Vazquez killed in Mexico

Vazquez, 42, founded Mexico City’s El Cártel Nuevo Imperio. Mexican security forces shot him while trying to serve an arrest warrant in Naucalpan, according to Security Minister Omar García Harfuch.

Harfuch said Vazquez fired at the forces and was responsible for the 2024 killing of Milton Morales, a Mexico City police chief. The U.S. allegations against Vazquez were included in an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Gomez and the wider case

The Justice Department announced a six-count federal indictment against Roberto Gomez, a 51-year-old U.S. citizen and gang member living in Mexico. Prosecutors allege he supplied international criminal organizations, including Wedding’s, for about a decade.

They say Gomez transported cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl from Central America to Mexico by air and sea, then moved the drugs into the United States and Canada by land. Prosecutors also allege he tried to arrange a 1,000-pound methamphetamine sale to Wedding, valued at about $550,000.

From 2024 to 2026, prosecutors say Gomez used cartel ties, including links to the Sinaloa Cartel, and contacts with access to sensitive law enforcement information to help Wedding avoid capture. The United States has made dozens of arrests in the investigation; Wedding faces 17 felony charges, has pleaded not guilty and is held without bond.