Eight people are facing charges after an undercover prostitution and human trafficking operation on Greenville's Westside, with one suspect accused of far more serious crimes involving a minor. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office says its Directed Patrol Unit ran the sting using undercover deputies posing as people seeking illegal activity, and the results ranged from prostitution charges to a felony case that could carry decades in prison.
According to deputies, as reported by FOX Carolina News, the Directed Patrol Unit conducted the operation on the Westside of Greenville, deploying undercover deputies specifically to identify people seeking out prostitution. Among those arrested, Miguel E. Paz-Calindres, Don A. Futrell, Jose M. Quintanilla-Hernandez, Rene I. Jimenez-Chavez, Dareus M. Still, George L. Rogers and Juan C. Hernandez-Zeron all face prostitution charges, deputies say. Jimenez-Chavez also faces additional charges of interfering with law enforcement, possession of marijuana and driving without a South Carolina driver's license, according to deputies.
The most serious case to come out of the sting belongs to Alberto Grande-Diaz, who deputies say was arrested on charges of human trafficking, criminal solicitation of a minor, and dissemination of obscene material to a minor. Those charges carry vastly different legal weight than the prostitution counts filed against the other seven men. Human trafficking, by contrast, is prosecuted under South Carolina Code § 16-3-2020 as a felony carrying up to 15 years in prison for a first offense, up to 30 years for a second, and up to 45 years for a third or subsequent offense, along with mandatory court-ordered restitution to victims, according to the Strom Law Firm.
A Pattern of Enforcement Across the County
The Westside arrests follow an operation two weeks earlier. On September 23, a multi-agency crackdown executed search warrants at six locations across Greenville County — including Tokyo Spa, Minami Massage and Ocean Breeze Massage — charging Anna Zhao and Christopher Michael Morphy with human trafficking and prostitution, while three other individuals, Lianying Cai, Honglian He and Yuelian Gu, faced prostitution charges. Jufen Tang was arrested separately on September 29. Authorities alleged unlicensed workers were forced to live on-site and paid below minimum wage, according to the City of Mauldin. That operation involved Mauldin Police, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, Simpsonville Police and SLED, and Hoodline covered the massage parlor investigation.
Greenville County has seen human trafficking enforcement activity, including the Westside sting and the Mauldin-area operation.
Statewide Numbers Show a Troubling Trend
South Carolina's 2025 Human Trafficking Annual Report found that 86% of human trafficking cases investigated by law enforcement statewide involved sex trafficking, and 234 of the 323 identified victims were children, according to WLTX. State officials also noted a 48% increase in identified adult victims in 2025 compared to the year before, the outlet reports.
The Greenville County Sheriff's Office's Directed Patrol Unit conducted the Westside sting.
Local Advocacy
Local advocacy group SWITCH emphasized that buyer demand continues to fuel local commercial sex activity, the station reported.
