US accuses Mexican judge of $2m bribe to free accused drug trafficker allegedly linked to ex-Olympic snowboarder

US officials say Mexican judge Luis Benítez Alcántara accepted $2m to release a suspected Canadian drug trafficker, Andrew Clark, while overseeing extradition proceedings in 2024. Benítez’s arrest adds to a US investigation into a multinational trafficking network allegedly run by former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.

Benítez, 49, was arrested in Colombia on Sunday and faces a nine-count indictment accusing him of being an accessory after the fact. Clark was arrested again days after his release and taken to the US, where he faces drug-trafficking and murder charges; US officials will seek Benítez’s extradition. Wedding was arrested in Mexico earlier this year, pleaded not guilty to US charges, and dozens of people have been arrested in the wider investigation.