Before his arrest Wednesday morning at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Utah, Francisco Davila was known here as a friendly coffee store owner who drove a Mercedes convertible with the license plate "Cafe O1."
Davila, a native of Colombia, also owned a large marine equipment company, Coleman Supply, and promoted historic tall ships.But documents unsealed Friday morning by a federal magistrate in Charleston paint a different picture of Davila.
The court papers allege the 44-year-old Mount Pleasant resident agreed to participate in a complicated money-laundering scheme that involved trips to Colombia and meetings with people associated with South American drug cartels.
They also describe a man who was sometimes nervous and unwilling to launder drug money, at other times eager to smuggle huge amounts of cocaine into the United States.
Davila and two Colombian nationals, Orlando Lozano and Javier Valdez, were arrested on money laundering and drug charges Wednesday morning in a plush condominium at Park City.
Intense security has surrounded the arrests, which capped a two-year federal, state and local investigation.
The men are being held in Utah jails under fake names, and three hearings Wednesday through Friday were not listed on a U.S. magistrate's calendar.
Affidavits supporting arrest warrants were unsealed Friday afternoon by U.S. Magistrate Robert S. Carr in Charleston.
The probe began in July 1990 when authorities received tips that a Charleston man was involved in money laundering.
Four undercover officers and the three men met Tuesday night at a condominium at Deer Valley Ski Resort, and the arrests were made the next morning.