Fugitive South L.A. Gang Member Living in Mexico and Cartel Plaza Boss Charged with Using Political Ties to Help Canadian Olympian Traffic Drugs and Evade Capture

LOS ANGELES - A reputed 38th Street gang member and fugitive living in Mexico has been charged in a six-count federal indictment with helping former Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding run a billion-dollar drug trafficking operation and obtaining law-enforcement sensitive information to help Wedding avoid detection by the United States, the Justice Department announced today.

Roberto Gomez, 51, a.k.a. "Rob Flores," "Fat Boy," "Fats," "Rooster," "," formerly of the Central-Alameda area of South Los Angeles, is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to import controlled substances, three counts of accessory after the fact, and one count of attempting to transact and deal with a specially designated narcotics trafficker.

Gomez is a U.S. citizen who fled Los Angeles County for Mexico after being charged in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2000 with two counts of second-degree robbery. In January 2018, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Gomez on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. He is considered a fugitive in both criminal cases.

According to the indictment, while in Mexico, Gomez met and communicated with leaders of foreign terrorist organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel and Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and cultivated relationships with individuals who had access to law-enforcement sensitive information from Mexican and U.S. agencies.

Gomez obtained that information related to law enforcement operations, including arrests, drug seizures, warrant executions, and the filing of criminal charges and provided this information to his co-conspirators, including Wedding, 45, a former Olympic athlete and Canadian national who later turned to drug trafficking and is charged with ordering several murders.

From 2016 to 2026, Gomez operated as an intermediate supplier of narcotics to multiple transnational criminal organizations, including Wedding's. Gomez's primary method of operation involved transporting cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into Mexico via aircraft and maritime vessels through Central America, followed by land-based transportation into the U.S. and Canada.

From October 2024 to January 2026, Gomez assisted Wedding to hinder and prevent his apprehension, trial, and punishment in the United States. He also attempted to broker the sale of approximately 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of methamphetamine between a source of supply and Wedding - whom the U.S. labeled a specially designated narcotics trafficker - for approximately $550,000 in cryptocurrency.

In a related matter, federal prosecutors today unsealed a two-count indictment against Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, 42, a.k.a. "El General," "Mini," who was shot to death last week by Mexican police.

According to the indictment, Vazquez presented himself as a founder and boss of El Cártel Nuevo Imperio, a violent criminal organization that predominantly operated in Mexico City. He trafficked cocaine for Wedding's criminal enterprise and provided that organization's members with near-daily, rotating code words that enterprise members and associates transporting cocaine loads in Mexico relayed to Mexican law enforcement and military personnel at checkpoints, permitting them to safely pass through.

Vazquez assisted members and associates of Wedding's enterprise by paying Mexican public officials to slow down criminal investigations, dispose of and manipulate inculpatory evidence, and dismiss criminal charges against them.

From October 2024 to January 2026, Vazquez helped Wedding evade detection by U.S. law enforcement.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted of all charges, Gomez would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The FBI investigated this matter with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Federal Policing. In addition, significant assistance was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Buffalo.

This investigation, arrest, and prosecution are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Los Angeles comprises agents and officers from the FBI and LAPD with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Assistant United States Attorneys Lyndsi Allsop and Joshua J. Lee of the Transnational Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.