A Mexican federal judge was arrested on November 5, 2026, after the U.S. Department of Justice charged him with accepting a $2 million bribe to free a Canadian drug trafficker facing extradition to the United States.
The judge, Luis Benítez Alcántara, faces a nine-count federal indictment. In 2024, he had responsibility for the extradition proceedings of Andrew Clark, a Canadian citizen charged in the U.S. with helping run a billion-dollar drug trafficking operation. The Justice Department alleges Benítez Alcántara took the bribe in exchange for granting Clark bond and ordering his release from custody.
Clark was allegedly the second-in-command of an organization led by Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder. Wedding faces U.S. charges of leading a transnational cocaine trafficking operation, as well as murder and attempted murder charges, the Justice Department said.
A Homeland Security task force conducted the investigation that led to Benítez Alcántara's arrest, according to the Justice Department. The Guardian reported that Clark had been charged in the U.S. with helping run the billion-dollar network tied to Wedding.