Southwest Detroit business owner arrested on charges of international money laundering

Fox 2 Detroit ^ | 09/04/2026 | FOX 2 Staff

[DFG]

A business owner out of Detroit was arrested by Homeland Security for alleged international money laundering with major drug cartels in Mexico.

Officials say 58-year-old Juan Romo-Padilla, who is the owner of Mexican restaurant ‘La Posada' in Southwest Detroit, was arrested on Thursday following a joint investigation by the DEA and IRS.

Romo-Padilla faces charges of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, international money laundering, laundering of represented drug proceeds, and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, announced US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr.

According to a federal criminal complaint, agents from DEA and IRS-CI have been investigating Romo-Padilla since 2024 for illegally sending cash transfers of drug proceeds to Mexico through La Posada.

Dig deeper: US officials say between 2022 and 2026, Romo-Padilla conducted over 100,000 wire transfers, totaling $140 million. Nearly all the funds were sent to Mexican states associated with major drug cartels.

"Money laundering is not a victimless crime, it is the financial engine that allows drug traffickers to turn illicit profits into the resources that fuel addiction, violence, and death in cities across America," said Special Agent in Charge Dixon. "We will follow the money, expose the networks behind these operations, and dismantle the financial infrastructure that allows them to thrive. We are moving with a renewed sense of urgency and will not stop until these criminal networks are destroyed."

What's next: If Romo-Padilla is convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: cartel; juanromopadilla; laposada; moneylaundering

[jacknhoo]

I voted for this.

[Organic Panic]

Reminds me when a Mexican joint got busted for selling $40 cups of ice. And ice it was. They were just laundering for meth dealers from Mexico.

[frank ballenger]

following a joint investigation

Local gang members even tipped him off but he shrugged it off. "So what if I'm found smoking a joint? Since 2018 marijuana sales and use are all legal in the State of Michigan."

[frank ballenger]

Those Mexican restaurants have been around in the area since even the days before I was born (1946). Used to be hardworking families keeping them going seven days a week. Apparently a criminal sideline was explored by one.

[NonValueAdded]

4 years of transfers, $140 million. This should have been caught long ago.

[thegagline]

[dakine]

See the sign on I-75 northbound past Livernois: “Mexicantown”

[Buck-Toothed Knuckle Dragger]

He’ll just claim it was a shakedown operation, with threats to his familia if he didn’t comply.
Now that killing kids is legal and illegal aliens are legal, how can laundering drug money be illegal?

[thegagline]

[frank ballenger]

Many get off there.

Others get off on Big Beaver.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1674781788/metal-sign-big-beaver-exit-69?ls=r&external=1&rec_type=ss&ref=pla_similar_listing_top-1&sr_prefetch=0&pf_from=listing_non_ule&content_source=4d0627a8a0477c347d614f50e8aa1df8%253ALT818e215b7c77b594d3d252cbafac93df91c26cbb&logging_key=4d0627a8a0477c347d614f50e8aa1df8%3ALT818e215b7c77b594d3d252cbafac93df91c26cbb

[dakine]

Yes. My wife is from Oakland County...

[frank ballenger]

My dear wife was, too. Gone now.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I know it can take a long time to build a case, but what the heck k takes this long?
* investigating Romo-Padilla since 2024
* 2022 - 2026 >100,000 wire transfers
* $140 million
* sent to Mexican states associated with major drug cartels.

[VanShuyten]

“… between 2022 and 2026, Romo-Padilla conducted over 100,000 wire transfers, totaling $140 million. Nearly all the funds were sent to Mexican states associated with major drug cartels.”

So, how much business did Western Union and Walmart do between the US and Mexico?

Remittances from the US to Mexico in 2025 were $3 billion. Believe it or not, that’s actually down 5% from 2024.