A Mexican judge has been arrested and accused by U.S. officials of accepting $2 million in bribes to free a suspected drug trafficker from custody, The Guardian reported, citing U.S. officials who spoke on Thursday.
The Guardian said the judge, identified in its report as Luis Benítez Alcantára, was overseeing extradition proceedings in Mexico in 2024 for Andrew Clark, a Canadian citizen. The Guardian described Clark as a suspected Canadian drug trafficker who was allegedly helping Ryan Wedding. Its article was credited to the Associated Press.
CBS News reported that the judge, named in its summary as Luiz Benítez Alcantára, is accused of releasing Clark from custody after accepting "$2 million in bribe payments."
The two reports differ on the judge's first name. CBS News spelled it Luiz, while The Guardian spelled it Luis. The CBS News summary did not give a year for the extradition proceedings, which The Guardian placed in 2024.
Both headlines describe the accusation as coming from the United States. The summaries reviewed for this report do not include a response from the judge or any statement from Mexican authorities about the accusations.
Sources: CBS News: Mexican judge accused by U.S. of taking bribes in major drug case; The Guardian: US accuses Mexican judge of $2m bribe to free accused drug trafficker allegedly linked to ex-Olympic snowboarder.