The Justice Department on Thursday announced the arrest of Mexican judge Luis Benítez Alcántara in Colombia on U.S. charges that he took a $2 million bribe to grant bond to and order the release of a Canadian drug trafficker.
Benítez, 49, of Mexico City, was taken into custody on Sunday, the department said. He is charged in a second superseding indictment with nine counts of accessory after the fact. The United States will request his extradition from Colombia, according to the announcement.
According to the superseding indictment returned on Sept. 4, Benítez used his official position to secure the release of Andrew Clark, a Canadian drug trafficker described as second-in-command to Ryan James Wedding. The department said Clark was arrested in Mexico in October 2024 on U.S. drug‑trafficking, murder, and attempted murder charges in which Wedding also was named. After Clark’s arrest, Benítez, then a district judge in Mexico City, oversaw Clark’s extradition proceedings, according to the department.
The department said that from November 2024 through February 2025, Clark transferred about $2.75 million, through intermediaries and in small increments, to secure his release. During that time, Clark negotiated an agreement to pay Benítez about $2 million in exchange for ordering his release, according to the announcement. On Feb. 24, 2025, the same day Benítez received the full $2 million bribe payment, he granted Clark bond and ordered him released, the department said. Days later, Clark was re‑arrested and removed to the United States, where the criminal case against him remains pending, according to the announcement.
“Crooked public officials, no matter where they are, who assist drug traffickers operating here at home will face justice in the United States,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The department said Wedding was apprehended in Mexico in January 2026 and subsequently removed to the United States, where he remains in federal custody. He faces drug‑trafficking, murder, and attempted murder charges and is scheduled for two separate trials on March 31, 2027, and Oct. 26, 2027, according to the announcement.
If convicted, Benítez would face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on each count, the department said. The FBI investigated this matter with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Federal Policing, the department said. The department said additional assistance was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Buffalo, New York, and Colombian law enforcement partners, including the Colombian National Police – Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol, Special Interagency Investigation Group. The Justice Department’s Judicial Attaché Office in Bogotá and Office of International Affairs worked with the Government of Colombia to secure the arrest, the department said.
The department said the investigation, arrest, and prosecution are part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lyndsi Allsop and Joshua J. Lee for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case, according to the announcement.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.