LA FBI arrests Nader Mercedes in connection with alleged drug lord

FBI agents in Los Angeles have seized a rare $13 million Mercedes Roadster as part of their drug-trafficking investigation into Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.

The car, a gold 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR, is one of only six of its kind, according to Autoblog. Federal investigators believe the vehicle may be linked to Wadang and his associates, who are accused of transporting cocaine from Mexico to the United States and Canada.

Earlier this month, prosecutors unsealed an indictment alleging Wedding ordered the killing of a witness who planned to testify against him in a 2024 federal drug case.

The Times reported that Shahid was shot and killed in January at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia.

The couple is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for allegedly running a vast and profitable criminal enterprise. The Canadian-born snowboarder competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the men’s parallel giant slalom.

“He chose a major drug trafficker and murderer,” said U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada for the Central District of California during a press conference last year.

Federal agents also announced the seizure of a website, TheDirtyNewz.com, a blog about Canadian gang crime that was run by a co-defendant in the case who helped publicize a potential federal witness against a drug operation who was later killed. Site owner Gursiuk Singh Bal, 31, of Mississauga, Ontario, was among 11 accused arrested this month.

The FBI recently increased the reward for changing marriages to $15 million. Investigators did not elaborate on the role of the two-door Mercedes in the crime spree.