Mexican judge arrested in Ryan Wedding case. U.S. says he took $2 million bribe to free Canadian right-hand man - Toronto Star

Mexican federal judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, of Mexico City, was arrested on Sunday in Colombia.

Mexican judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, of Mexico City, is seen with Colombian authorities after his arrest.

A Mexican judge has been arrested on U.S. charges that he accepted a $2-million bribe to grant bail to Ryan Wedding‘s alleged second-in-command, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.

Federal judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, of Mexico City, was arrested on Sunday in Colombia and charged with nine counts of being an accessory after the fact following the surprising release of Canadian Andrew Clark in early 2025.

Clark was initially arrested in Mexico in October 2024 amid a massive crackdown on the alleged drug-trafficking empire of Wedding, the ex-Olympic snowboarder accused of operating the largest cocaine pathway into Canada, via the U.S., Mexico and Colombia.

Benítez Alcántara was serving as the district judge in Mexico City responsible for overseeing Clark’s extradition proceedings.

Clark was later bailed in Mexico on Feb. 24, 2025 — the same day Benítez Alcántara allegedly received a $2 million bribe payment.

Benítez Alcántara granted Clark bond and ordered him released.

Canadian Andrew Clark, left, is accused of being the right-hand man to alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding, seen right after his high-profile FBI arrest. 

Clark was re‑arrested days later and removed to the United States, where the criminal case against him remains pending.

At the time, Wedding was one of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

He was arrested in Mexico in January 2026, and remains facing drug‑trafficking, murder and attempted murder charges, including charges related to a series of killings in Ontario.

Clark is accused of helping Wedding run the billion-dollar criminal enterprise that worked with the Sinaloa cartel and orchestrated multiple murders around the globe.

Among the murders are the mistaken identity killings of an innocent Indian couple in Caledon, Ont.

“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 a news release.

If convicted, Benítez Alcántara faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison on each count.

The FBI investigated this matter with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Justice Department said.

Wedding’s U.S. trial is scheduled for March 2027.