An undercover Miami police sting ended with five men behind bars Wednesday night, after detectives say they pretended online to be the mother of two girls, ages 13 and 15, and set up meetings at a local hotel. Officers arrested the men as they stepped into a room arranged by investigators, and authorities say all five are now charged with child sex trafficking and related computer-crimes offenses.
Undercover ad led detectives to a hotel room
According to detectives, the operation started with an online ad in which officers posed as a mother offering her two underage daughters for sex in exchange for money. After arranging separate meetings, investigators waited inside an undisclosed hotel room, then detained each man once he entered, police say. The sting was run with help from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force, which coordinated with officers to track, identify and arrest the suspects, according to Local 10.
Who was arrested and what police wrote
Police identified the men as Josue Donis Castanon, 20, of Fort Lauderdale; Edgardo Arturo Donaire, 49, of Miramar; Roberto Antonio Guido Rojas, 38, of Miami; Miles Simyon, 22, of Sweetwater; and Marvin Geovanny Torres, 43, of southwest Miami-Dade. All five were booked on child sex trafficking and computer-crimes charges and taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to Local 10. Investigators wrote that Torres arrived carrying more than a dozen condoms, lubricants and “bondage” items, and a detective noted in his arrest report that Torres repeatedly said in Spanish, “I knew it.”
Part of a wider anti-trafficking push in Miami
Miami police and prosecutors say the bust is part of a broader strategy that leans on undercover online work to interrupt suspected sex trafficking and find potential victims. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office newsletter says the office operates a Human Trafficking Task Force and urges residents to share tips through a dedicated hotline. Similar undercover stings, often tied to major events and online escort postings, have been documented in previous cases, according to reporting by NBC 6 South Florida.
Legal context
Prosecutors at the state and federal level note that the charges carry steep potential sentences; under federal law, sex trafficking involving a minor can be prosecuted without proof of force, fraud or coercion, a distinction laid out in Congressional research on trafficking statutes. Immigration holds reported for two of the five men are administrative requests from federal authorities that can lead to short-term detention while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement decides whether to assume custody. These “immigration detainers” ask jails to keep an inmate for a limited period so federal agents have time to act, according to the American Immigration Council.
Anyone with information about this case or other suspected human trafficking is urged to contact Miami police or the State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Hotline at 305-FIX-STOP (305-349-7867), the State Attorney’s Office says in its newsletter. Authorities say the investigation remains active as detectives review electronic records and interview possible witnesses.
