McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) McAllen City Commissioner Rodolfo “Rudy” Castillo turned himself in to Homeland Security Investigations on Friday after facing charges for money laundering and smuggling goods from the U.S.
Rodolfo Castillo, 55, residing in McAllen, came forward to Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, early Friday.
“It’s possible this case could go to trial,” stated Rick Salinas, Castillo’s attorney from Mission. “The details in the complaint are somewhat concerning.”
Homeland Security Investigations searched Castillo’s house and his business, Oro Ropa Usada, on Thursday.
During the raids, agents also detained Castillo’s spouse, Bertha Alicia Castillo, 57, from McAllen. She faces charges including money laundering, smuggling goods from the U.S., and providing shelter to individuals without legal status in the country.
“We’re still investigating,” said attorney Oscar Vega of McAllen, who represents Bertha. “And we have no comment.”
Castillo joined the City Commission in 2022. He represents District 4, which covers southwest McAllen.
Rudy and Bertha own Oro Ropa Usada, which buys and sells used clothing.
Many businesses in the Rio Grande Valley sell used clothing ropa usada to customers in Mexico.
In Mexico, obtaining government permission to import used clothing is very challenging. Consequently, many ropa usada businesses function within a legally ambiguous zone.
These businesses often become targets for corrupt Mexican law enforcement, dishonest customs officials, and those linked to drug cartels in Mexico.
A federal informant contacted Rudy Castillo on Aug. 8, according to the criminal complaint against him.
“During the call, CASTILLO explicitly stated that he avoids reporting merchandise entry into Mexico,” according to the criminal complaint, “to evade detection by authorities.”
Rudy Castillo also told the informant that he bribed law enforcement officers in Mexico.
“Specifically, CASTILLO mentioned paying $20,000 pesos to Harfuch’s police department, a newly implemented police force in Mexico that is reportedly incorruptible,” according to the criminal complaint against him. “For reference: In 2025, Omar Garcia Harfuch, serving as Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, established the National Operations Unit (UNO), an elite police force focused on combating organized crime.”
Rudy Castillo said he made the payment to “facilitate uninterrupted transport.”
“CASTILLO stated that the politician Omar Harfuch, who oversees the police force, is likely unaware of these bribes, and added, ‘la gente que esta en el piso, esos comen de otro plato,’” according to the criminal complaint against him.
Agents translated Rudy Castillo’s comment as: “The people who are on the floor, they eat from a different plate.”
“Everyone is getting paid,” Rudy Castillo said, according to the criminal complaint, to avoid problems with law enforcement.
On Aug. 26, an undercover agent contacted Bertha Castillo about buying used clothing.
The undercover agent met Rudy and Bertha at Oro Ropa Usada, according to the criminal complaints, and paid them $20,742 in cash.
During the conversation, the undercover agent “explained that his job was to collect money from Houston and transport it south, while earning a 1-2% commission on the total amount transported,” according to the criminal complaint.
Couriers who pick up cash for drug trafficking organizations frequently receive a percentage of the money they transport.
Rudy Castillo told the undercover agent the clothing would be shipped to Mexico in about a week, according to the criminal complaints. A trucker picked up the clothing on Sept. 2.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection questioned the trucker, who said he transported clothing for Rudy Castillo and that Castillo had provided him with a customs document.
Agents reviewed the document, “but noted several discrepancies, including blank fields for the date and no commodity description,” according to the criminal complaint against Bertha Castillo.
Homeland Security Investigations also searched government databases for information on the Sept. 2 shipment from Oro Ropa Usada.
“The query results indicated that no documentation had been submitted to support legal exportation,” according to the criminal complaint against Bertha Castillo.
Agents, however, discovered Shipper’s Export Declarations for 158 other shipments from 2009 to 2021.
“When asked about export documentation, CASTILLO admitted that he did not file a Shipper’s Export Declaration (‘SED’) for the shipment,” according to the criminal complaint against him, even though he’d filed the paperwork in the past. “CASTILLO claimed that he believed the responsibility for filing documentation rested with his Mexican customers.”
Rudy Castillo may appear before a federal judge on Monday.
