Mexican judge accused in US with taking $2 million bribe in international drug trafficking case

A Mexican judge is accused of taking a $2 million bribe in exchange for releasing a suspected Canadian drug trafficker from custody in an investigation into a billion-dollar drug trafficking ring, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Luiz Benítez Alcántara, 49, was arrested in Colombia on Sunday and faces a nine-count U.S. grand jury indictment charging him with being an accessory after the fact, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Benítez was overseeing extradition proceedings in Mexico in 2024 for Canadian citizen Andrew Clark, who was charged in the U.S. with helping run a drug trafficking group allegedly headed by former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, the statement said. Benítez released Clark from custody in 2025 after accepting the bribe payment, the statement said.

Clark was arrested days later and taken to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking and murder charges.

U.S. officials said they will request Benítez’s extradition from Colombia. He was traveling to the country for personal reasons, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

It was not immediately known if Benítez has a lawyer.

“Crooked public officials, no matter where they are, who assist drug traffickers operating here at home will face justice in the United States,” U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the statement.

It's the latest arrest in the U.S. investigation into a multinational drug trafficking network allegedly run by Wedding, who became a top FBI fugitive accused of moving cocaine from Latin America into the United States and orchestrating several killings. Wedding was arrested in Mexico earlier this year and flown to California, where he pleaded not guilty to murder and drug charges.

Dozens of people have been arrested in connection with the alleged drug network and authorities seized large volumes of drugs, weapons and cash, as well as millions of dollars worth of automobiles, motorcycles, artwork and jewelry in its investigation.

U.S. authorities have said Clark was second-in-command in the network that shipped cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles for storage in stash houses until it could be transported to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks. Wedding and Clark are both charged with ordering killings related to the drug trade.

Clark’s attorney, Matthew Lombard, did not immediately respond to messages Thursday.