The Justice Department said Thursday that Mexican judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, was arrested Sunday in Colombia. He faces nine counts of being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors say he took a $2 million bribe to grant bond to and free Andrew Clark, 36, a Canadian they call second-in-command to Ryan Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder charged with running a cocaine trafficking operation and with murder.

According to the indictment, Clark was arrested in Mexico in October 2024 on U.S. drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder charges and appeared before Benítez, the district judge handling his extradition case. From November 2024 through February 2025, prosecutors say, Clark moved approximately $2.75 million through intermediaries to secure his release, and agreed to pay Benítez approximately $2 million to order it.

On Feb. 24, 2025, the same day Benítez received the full $2 million, he granted Clark bond and ordered him released. Days later, Clark was re-arrested and removed to the United States. Wedding was caught in Mexico in January 2026 and awaits trials on March 31, 2027, and Oct. 26, 2027.

“Crooked public officials, no matter where they are, who assist drug traffickers operating here at home will face justice in the United States,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. The United States will request Benítez's extradition. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

FBI Director Kash Patel said Wedding's network was the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.

Prosecutors say a sitting judge sold the release of a man charged with murder.