16 Indicted for Alleged Drug Trafficking and Murders Spanning North America

Indictment alleges 16 operated a drug network, shipping cocaine from Colombia to Canada; leaders face life in prison for multiple murders and trafficking.

A photo of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 43, who is a fugitive, is seen top left, with 15 other defendants who have been charged with allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation, is displayed on a video monitor at a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles on Oct. 17, 2024. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

Sixteen people have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment alleging that they were involved in a transnational drug trafficking operation that shipped large quantities of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and other parts of the United States.

The indictment, unsealed earlier this week, also accuses the defendants of orchestrating multiple murders to further their criminal activities, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.