US accuses Mexico City judge, arrested in Colombia, of $2M bribe

A Mexico City district judge accused of taking a $2 million bribe to free a Canadian drug trafficker has been arrested in Colombia, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.

Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, faces nine counts of being an accessory after the fact. The indictment says he oversaw the extradition case of Andrew Clark, 36, a Canadian charged in the United States with drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder, and described as the number two to Ryan Wedding. Mexican authorities arrested Clark in October 2024, and Washington requested his extradition that November.

Prosecutors say Clark moved about $2.75 million through intermediaries, in small amounts, to win his release. Of that money, $2 million reached the judge in full on Feb. 24, 2025, the indictment alleges. That same day, Benítez granted Clark bail and ordered him freed.

Clark was arrested again days later and sent to the United States, where his case remains open.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said corrupt officials who help drug traffickers will face justice wherever they are. FBI Director Kash Patel said the judge took bribes and used his position to help Wedding.

Each of the nine counts carries up to 15 years in prison. The department notes that an indictment is only an allegation and that Benítez is presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial. His side of the story is not known, and neither Mexico's attorney general's office nor the federal judiciary has taken a public position.

Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, was captured in Mexico in January 2026 and remains in U.S. custody. He had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. His two trials are set for March 31 and Oct. 26, 2027.

The case against Benítez now hinges on Colombia agreeing to hand him over. The United States has said it will request his extradition.