Andrew Clark, freed by alleged $2 million bribe, is now a cooperating witness

FBI says Clark and Wedding were largest suppliers of cocaine to Canada

Andrew Clark, the Canadian drug trafficker freed from Mexican custody after an alleged $2 million bribe, is now a cooperating witness, according to Canadian and U.S. court documents. The Justice Department said in a statement that Clark was allegedly the second-in-command for Ryan “Thor” Wedding, the former Team Canada snowboarder accused of running a drug-trafficking gang affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel. The organization, which U.S. officials say was led by Wedding and Clark, operated in the U.S., Mexico and Colombia.

The FBI said Clark and Wedding were the largest suppliers of cocaine to Canada. Wedding was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, with a $15 million bounty on his head, when Mexican authorities arrested him in Mexico early this year. He represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and finished 24th in the parallel giant slalom category, records show.

Clark closely directed executions and enriched himself with the enterprise’s laundered drug proceeds, the indictment said. Also known as “the Dictator,” he allegedly directed two murders and the attempted killing of a third person in Ontario in 2023, according to the Justice Department. He is also charged, with a co-defendant, with a 2024 murder in Ontario.

The cooperation indication runs through a case that began with Clark’s arrest in Mexico in 2024 under an indictment charging him with drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder, according to the Justice Department. He appeared before Judge Luis Benítez, then a district judge presiding over the Canadian’s extradition proceeding to the U.S. Clark allegedly negotiated a $2 million bribe with Benítez, who granted him bail and ordered his release.

A few days after the release, Clark was rearrested. Mexico sent him to the U.S. last year along with dozens of imprisoned Mexican cartel leaders and lieutenants, and the case against him continues, the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department said Thursday that Colombian police arrested Benítez on Sunday in Colombia under an indictment alleging he took the $2 million to order Clark’s release.

The department said the U.S. will request Benítez’s extradition from Colombia. “The Department of Justice will continue identifying and dismantling transnational criminal organizations that threaten the safety of the American people,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

A spokesman for Mexico’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.