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