Mexican Judge Arrested in Colombia for Alleged Narco-Bribes

A federal judge in Mexico City was detained in Colombia on charges that he accepted millions of dollars in bribes to release a high-ranking operative of an international drug trafficking network, according to United States authorities. Luis Benítez Alcántara was taken into custody at the request of the United States, following accusations that he received two million dollars to secure the freedom of Andrew Clark, a primary target in a case connected to former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding.

The United States Department of Justice office in Los Angeles announced the arrest, highlighting that the 49-year-old Mexican district judge allegedly accepted the payments in exchange for granting bail and ordering the release of Clark. Investigators stated that Clark served as second-in-command of a transnational drug organization supposedly led by Wedding, a former professional snowboarder who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics before allegedly shifting to large-scale cocaine distribution and violent crimes.

Court documents filed in Los Angeles indicate that Wedding, Clark, and other associates conspired to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from the United States to Canada throughout 2024. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also linked Wedding's organization to multiple murders dating back to 2023. Wedding was eventually captured in Mexico after more than a decade as a fugitive and subsequently transferred to the United States to face justice.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Clark utilized small transfers totaling roughly 2.75 million dollars from his organization to orchestrate his legal release. Investigators claim that on February 24, 2025, after receiving the full two-million-dollar bribe, Judge Benítez officially granted bail to Clark and ordered his release. Clark was later recaptured and placed into United States custody, setting the stage for the subsequent international investigation into the judicial corruption.

In a separate legal development involving judicial decisions, a Spanish judge has rejected a request by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to investigate former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged embezzlement. The prosecutor's office sought the probe after discovering jewelry in a safe at Zapatero's office that was reportedly gifted to him in 2007 by the late King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia.

National Court Magistrate José Luis Calama ruled against the imputation, explaining that legislation enacted in 2013 explicitly prohibited high-ranking officials from accepting gifts exceeding social customs, meaning no law in 2007 automatically incorporated such presents into state property. The judge noted that while the action might draw ethical or political criticism, it does not constitute a criminal offense of embezzlement based on the legal framework of that period. Furthermore, Magistrate Calama ordered the suspension of ongoing tax inspections targeting Zapatero, his family members, and associated business figures.