U.S. Seeks Extradition of Judge Accused in $2M Bribe

The United States has requested the extradition of District Judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, arrested in Colombia on Nov. 1 on charges of taking a US $2 million bribe from drug traffickers. U.S. officials say he used his authority to help release a suspected trafficker; now they seek to prosecute the judge in the United States, where he could face up to 15 years in prison for each of nine charges.

Benítez is the first Mexican federal judge indicted by the United States. The case turns on rulings he issued while presiding over the extradition proceedings of Andrew Clark, a Canadian drug trafficker and second-in-command to Ryan James Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada.

A judge’s power, bought for $2 million

U.S. officials say Benítez accepted the payment and then issued rulings that directly facilitated Clark’s release from custody in February 2025. Clark had been arrested in Mexico in October 2024 on U.S. charges including drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder. Wedding was also named in those charges.

Clark was re-arrested days after his release and extradited to the United States. He faces nine charges involving distributing and possessing cocaine and methamphetamine, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, homicide and attempted homicide related to a criminal enterprise, and drug trafficking offenses.

The U.S. grand jury indictment charges Benítez with being an accessory after the fact. The U.S. Department of Justice also accuses him of being an accomplice in drug trafficking and homicide, saying he accepted money in exchange for Clark’s release. If convicted, Benítez faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on each count.

The machinery of extradition

The United States formally requested Clark’s extradition in November 2024. After Clark’s release, his arrest days later and extradition placed him in U.S. custody. The same government now seeks Benítez’s extradition from Colombia, framing the case as a matter for U.S. justice.

Benítez spent more than two decades in Mexico’s Federal Judiciary. The article also noted that he released the only defendant in the Pegasus spying case against journalists. That detail places the judge’s record beyond the bribery accusation: his rulings have also shaped whether a defendant in a case involving surveillance of journalists remained in custody.

A wider criminal investigation

The arrest is the latest development in the U.S. investigation into a multinational drug trafficking network allegedly run by Wedding, described in the report as one of the biggest, most notorious and violent transnational criminal organizations. Wedding was apprehended in Mexico earlier this year, flown to California and pleaded not guilty to murder and drug charges.

In a related incident, Édgar Aarón Vázquez, leader of the New Empire Cartel and accused by the United States of protecting Wedding in Mexico, was killed on Thursday during a confrontation with police in the State of Mexico. Vázquez is also believed to have been the intellectual author of the July 2024 murder of Milton Morales, a top Mexico City security official.

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Crooked public officials, no matter where they are, who assist drug traffickers operating here at home will face justice in the United States.” Blanche also said, “Mr. Benítez will be held accountable,” and added that the Department of Justice would continue to identify and dismantle transnational criminal organizations that threaten the security of the American people.