Treasury case alleges political protection for Los Rusos in Mexicali
Original reporting: El Financiero
What happened
The U.S. Treasury says Carlos Torres used political influence to protect the Los Rusos faction of La Mayiza; Mexico’s governor denied knowledge of the allegations and said she is legally divorced from Torres.
Reporting and context
U.S. authorities have accused Carlos Torres, the former husband of Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila, of helping protect the Los Rusos faction of La Mayiza in Mexicali. The Treasury Department said Torres used political influence to facilitate the group’s operations and revoked his U.S. visa in May 2025. His accounts were later blocked by Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit.
According to El Financiero, the Treasury case also names Torres’s brother, Luis Alfonso Torres, and Pedro Ariel Mendívil García, the former director of Mexicali’s Public Security Department. The department alleges that Mendívil sold police protection to Los Rusos in exchange for bribes and paid Carlos Torres to allow the group to operate with relative impunity. El Financiero reported that an N+ investigation put the alleged payments at at least $150,000 a month.
The Treasury Department said Luis Alfonso Torres handled money from the alleged bribes through companies and political campaigns. One business identified in the report is Vida Orgánica Tijuana, founded while Marina del Pilar and Carlos Torres were married. The governor said she is legally divorced from Torres and does not know the allegations made by the U.S. government. She also said her administration has made about 130 arrests of high-level criminal suspects and seized drugs and weapons, according to the source.