United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DETROIT – Juan Romo-Padilla, 58, owner of La Posada – a Mexican restaurant, convenience store, and money remitter business located in southwest, Detroit - was arrested Sept. 3, 2026, following a joint investigation by the DEA Detroit Field Division and IRS Criminal Investigation.

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

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Joseph O. Dixon, special agent in charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Field Division, and Karen Wingerd, special agent in charge, Detroit Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation.

According to the federal criminal complaint, agents from DEA and IRS-CI began their investigation of Romo-Padilla in September 2024 for illegally sending structured cash transfers of drug proceeds to Mexico through La Posada. Between 2022 and 2026, Romo-Padilla conducted more than 100,000 wire transfers totaling over $140 million to Mexico. Nearly all of the funds were sent to Mexican states associated with major drug cartels, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), La Familia Michoacana, and the Sinaloa Cartel. 

“Disrupting the flow of drug proceeds back to the Mexican Cartels is critical to combatting the proliferation of narcotics in this district and across the United States.” said Gorgon. 

During the investigation, agents introduced an undercover agent to Romo-Padilla who posed as a Detroit-based drug dealer looking to send drug proceeds to Mexico. On multiple occasions, Romo-Padilla conducted structured transaction for the undercover agent, sending more than $80,000 of purported illicit funds to Mexico by breaking them into smaller amounts under the names of numerous fictitious senders.

“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. 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,” said Dixon.

If convicted of these money laundering offenses, Romo-Padilla faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

“The arrest of Juan Romo-Padilla for his role in transmitting funds from illegal drug transactions in and out of the United States is a victory for the American public and a defeat to drug traffickers everywhere. The special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation continue in their mission to disrupt the flow of ill-gotten gains that is the life-blood for these criminals. We will continue to be relentless in our mission to dismantle these drug trafficking organizations and bring the criminals who run them to justice,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Todd Strom, Detroit Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), which utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Detroit comprises agents and officers from numerous agencies with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.