Fourteen people were arrested Friday morning during a multi-agency raid at a Hialeah cafeteria that police say was selling drugs and alcohol without proper licenses and operating illegal gaming machines.
The operation targeted La Lunita Café, located in a warehouse district in west Hialeah. CBS News Miami had been looking into complaints about the business for weeks, following a shooting in the parking lot about a month ago.
Hialeah police, along with five other agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — carried out the early-morning raid as part of “Operation Luna Caída,” or “Operation Fallen Moon.”
CBS News Miami cameras were rolling before 8 a.m. as officers placed a woman in handcuffs into a Hialeah police vehicle. She was among more than a dozen people arrested during the operation.
Business owners nearby said the location had been a source of problems for months.
“For people like me whose business is in the area, I can tell you weekends were tough,” one neighboring business owner said in Spanish. “The crowd would take my parking spaces, and they would urinate in front of our places.”
In a statement, Hialeah police said officers found alcohol being sold without a proper license and identified a security guard who was allegedly distributing narcotics.
“Alcohol was being sold without a proper license. An on-site security guard was positively identified by undercover special agents as actively engaged in narcotics distribution and was arrested for possession and distribution of a controlled substance,” the statement read.
Police said the operation resulted in 14 arrests, including the manager, assistant manager, and two servers described as “B-girls.”
CBS News Miami spoke with a man who identified himself as the head of security, but he declined to comment on camera and denied the allegations.
The raid came after months of complaints from neighbors of the café
Last month, CBS News Miami requested police call records for the café’s address. The department provided a two-page document listing complaints that included stolen vehicles, assault, larceny, narcotics investigations, vandalism, and even a fire.
During Friday’s raid, officers from multiple agencies entered the establishment around 6 a.m. The Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco seized three gaming machines.
Police also said officers identified individuals with outstanding warrants and others in possession of controlled substances. ICE agents took three people into federal custody.
A woman who identified herself as Nelly said she is related to one of those taken by ICE.
“I know of two,” she said, adding that one man told her he was in federal custody and asked her to retrieve his truck because he fears he may be deported to El Salvador.
Earlier in the day, CBS News Miami attempted to speak with neighboring business owners, but many said they feared retaliation. Several referenced a Jan. 11, 2026, shooting outside La Lunita Café.
According to police, a man identified as Dainel Odio got into an argument with another man and shot him three times. Investigators said the suspect boarded an American Airlines flight to Havana but was arrested before the plane took off. He remains in jail.
For some nearby business owners, the closure of the café brings relief.
“Without a doubt, it was a place that brought nothing but problems,” said Ander Leon Spanish. He is a business owner in the area glad to see he will no longer have to deal with La Lunita clients.
The business has been shut down pending administrative and criminal proceedings. Police said a notice of closure has been posted, advising that the establishment is prohibited from operating in any capacity.
