President Trump’s Justice Department just announced the arrest of a Mexican federal judge accused of selling the power of his office to a major transnational drug organization.
Luis Benitez Alcantara, 49, was arrested Sunday in Colombia and now faces nine U.S. counts of being an accessory after the fact.
Federal prosecutors allege Benitez took approximately $2 million to grant bond and order the release of Andrew Clark, a Canadian drug trafficker described by the Justice Department as the second-in-command to former Olympic snowboarder and alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest and said the case reached a public official who allegedly used his position to help Wedding’s organization.
The FBI and our partners have arrested Luis Benítez Alcántara, a Mexican judge who allegedly accepted bribes and used his position…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) November 5, 2026
The alleged sequence is breathtaking.
Clark was arrested in Mexico in October 2024 on U.S. drug-trafficking, murder and attempted-murder charges. Benitez was the district judge responsible for overseeing the extradition proceedings after the United States formally requested Clark’s return.
Instead, prosecutors say Clark moved roughly $2.75 million through intermediaries and small payments between November 2024 and February 2025. About $2 million allegedly went to Benitez in exchange for rulings that would put Clark back on the street.
On February 24, 2025 — the same day prosecutors say the full bribe was received — Benitez granted Clark bond and ordered him released.
Clark was rearrested days later and removed to the United States, where his criminal case remains pending.
The prosecuting office in Los Angeles confirmed the arrest and the nine-count federal indictment.
Luis Benítez Alcántara, a Mexican federal judge, was arrested in Colombia on Sunday on a nine-count U.S. grand jury indictment…
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) November 5, 2026
The Justice Department says Wedding led one of the largest and most violent transnational cocaine organizations and was formerly one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives.
He was apprehended in Mexico in January 2026 and remains in federal custody on drug-trafficking, murder and attempted-murder charges stemming from what investigators describe as a sprawling and exceptionally violent cocaine network.
The United States now plans to seek Benitez’s extradition from Colombia so he can answer the nine charges in federal court. If convicted, Benitez could face up to 15 years in federal prison on each count.
Wedding is scheduled for separate federal trials on March 31 and October 26, 2027. Prosecutors accuse his organization of moving cocaine across Colombia, Mexico, Canada and the United States while using violence to protect the operation.
The case was investigated by the FBI with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with additional assistance from U.S. and Colombian authorities.
This is exactly the kind of corruption that lets murderous international networks keep operating after law enforcement has already done the hard work of making an arrest.
Attorney General Todd Blanche made clear that crossing a border does not place a crooked public official beyond the reach of American justice.
Crooked public officials, no matter where they are, who assist drug traffickers operating here at home will face justice in the U.S.
— Attorney General Todd Blanche (@AGToddBlanche) November 5, 2026
The operation brought together the FBI, Los Angeles Police Department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Colombian police and Justice Department officials working through the Homeland Security Task Force.
An indictment contains allegations, and Benitez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
But the message from President Trump’s Justice Department is unmistakable: public office is not a shield for anyone accused of helping an international drug empire endanger Americans.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
