A Mexican judge, Luis Benítez Alcántara, is arrested and accused by U.S. authorities of taking a $2 million bribe to secure the release of a suspected Canadian drug trafficker from custody. Outlets report that he was arrested in Colombia after U.S.-linked investigation efforts.
The U.S. Justice Department says the judge oversaw extradition proceedings in Mexico and that his alleged actions involved Andrew Clark, described as a 36-year-old Canadian. Multiple reports link the case to a broader drug trafficking organization allegedly associated with former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, including his alleged associates.
While the core allegations are consistent across coverage, outlets vary in emphasis and phrasing. Some focus on the alleged bribe and the judge’s custody-release role; others foreground links to “right-hand” or “second-in-command” figures in the alleged trafficking ring. The Independent, for example, stresses the international trafficking framing, while ABC News includes the number of charges reported by the DOJ.
Overall, all sources describe the same U.S. accusation, the same $2 million figure, and the same central relationship between the judge’s alleged misconduct and Clark’s release, with differences mainly in how the story’s links to Wedding are introduced.
