Tijuana official accused of money laundering is jailed in San Diego

Less than three weeks after his swearing-in, a member of the Tijuana City Council was behind bars Tuesday in San Diego on money-laundering charges.

Luis Torres Santillan, 37, was taken into custody Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He was arrested at the border after receiving a call saying he needed to come in to renew his Sentri pass, which allows faster processing of pre-cleared border crossers, said his San Diego defense attorney, Anthony Colombo.

Torres is being held on $5-million bail at the San Diego Central Jail on 10 counts of money laundering, according to the San Diego County district attorney’s office. If found guilty of all counts, he faces a sentence of up to 15 years.

One of 12 defendants named in a complaint, Torres pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in Superior Court on Monday, his attorney said.

Little is publicly known about the nature of the alleged money-laundering operation, as a 26-page probable cause document in the case was under seal.

However, a court document signed by a San Diego police officer assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s narcotics task force described Torres as a flight risk because of the proximity to the border and his connections with Mexico.

“Due to the lucrative nature of the illicit business the defendant is engaged in, I believe the defendant has quick access to additional large sources of illicit, feloniously obtained funds, and that these funds would be used to post bail,” the statement said.

A bail review hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, and Colombo said he planned to challenge the amount. Pointing out that Torres is a U.S. citizen, married, the father of two and has no previous criminal record, Colombo called him “an upstanding member of his community.” For decades Torres’ family has operated a business that imports products like rice, beans and lentils and distributes them in Mexico.

As news of his arrest reverberated across government and business circles in Tijuana on Tuesday, friends reacted with shock and disbelief.

“He is an extraordinary young man ... dedicated to his work,” Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum told reporters at City Hall.

Torres is a member of Mexico’s National Action Party. His Facebook page describes him as an entrepreneur and head of the council’s public safety committee. He has been a member of Coparmex, an influential business group known for fighting corruption and championing transparency in government.

sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Dibble and Littlefield write for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Staff researcher Merrie Monteagudo contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

6:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from attorney Anthony Colombo.

This article was originally published at 11 a.m.