BOGOTÁ — Colombian police, working with the FBI, detained Mexican federal judge Luis Benítez Alcántara at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia on a U.S. extradition request. U.S. prosecutors accuse him of taking a US$2 million bribe to free a top lieutenant in the transnational drug network of Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder turned FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive.

The Arrest

Benítez Alcántara, alias “El Juez,” was held on an Interpol red notice as he prepared to board a flight to Mexico City, according to a Colombian police statement carried by EFE. He has been placed at the disposal of Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office while extradition proceedings move forward.

Benítez Alcántara faces a nine-count federal indictment according to U.S. authorities. The counts include accessory after the fact, conspiracy to distribute, possess and export cocaine and methamphetamine, continuing criminal enterprise, murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors say each count carries up to 15 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.

Canadian ex-Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is taken off a plane in Ontario, Calif., on Friday, January 26, 2026. Credit: FBI via AP

The U.S. case alleges that when Canadian national Andrew Clark was arrested in Mexico in October 2024, Benítez Alcántara was the judge overseeing his extradition. Clark was the second in command of Wedding’s network, citing a DHS statement. Prosecutors say the judge received the full US$2 million payment on February 24, 2025, and that same day granted Clark bail and ordered his release.

Clark was later arrested again and sent to the United States.

Prosecutors allege Wedding’s ring, which was aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, moved large cocaine shipments from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to supply the U.S. and Canadian markets.

Colombian Police Allegations

Colombian police said the investigation found that between October 2024 and February 2025, Benítez Alcántara used his position as a federal judge in charge of extradition cases to grant illicit legal benefits to Sinaloa Cartel members.

The director of the police’s criminal investigation and Interpol unit, Col. Elver Vicente Alfonso Sanabria, said he arrived in Bogotá allegedly to hold clandestine meetings with local criminal organizations to coordinate cocaine shipments to Central America and the U.S. Police gave no further detail on those meetings.

Benítez Alcántara, 49 spent about 20 years in Mexico’s federal judiciary and served as a district judge in the accusatory criminal system in Mexico City. He was a district judge in Ciudad Juárez from 2018 before moving to the federal criminal court at Mexico City’s Reclusorio Sur. A local attorney says his arrest raises questions about rulings he issued in Juárez, but the lawyer did not detail any wrongdoing.

U.S. officials have not said when extradition proceedings in Bogotá will conclude, and his legal representation and any plea have not been announced. Colombia has stepped up handovers to the United States under President Abelardo de la Espriella.

No response from Mexico’s judiciary or government had been reported at the time of writing.

Benítez Alcántara is presumed innocent until proven guilty.