Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hialeah council upholds revocation of La Lunita Cafeteria business tax receipt after police operation
Summary
After testimony from Hialeah police and the business-tax official that investigators found nightclub-style operations, unpermitted liquor, gambling ledgers and narcotics sales, the council voted to uphold a city business-tax revocation for La Lunita Cafeteria.
The Hialeah City Council voted on Feb. 24 to uphold the emergency revocation of the business tax receipt for La Lunita Cafeteria after the city presented evidence from a multiagency enforcement operation.
Assistant City Attorney Raymond Sales opened the quasi-judicial hearing and the city called Hialeah Police Lieutenant Marlon Espinosa as its first witness. Espinosa testified that officers executed "Operation Luna Caida" on Feb. 13 and found the business "clearly operating as a nightclub" with dimmed lights, buckets of beer, red solo cups with liquor, gambling machines and narcotics activity. "There was drugs that were being sold during that operation as well," Espinosa said.
Major Fernando Villal, head of criminal investigations, told the council the location had been linked to shootings and stabbings in 2025 and 2026 and had previously entered into a "last chance" settlement with the city in October 2025 that required six months of compliance. Villal said the operation's findings constituted a material breach of that agreement.
Business Tax Official Yesenia Gurevich described issuing a cease-and-desist and, based on the evidence and the settlement terms, exercising emergency revocation powers under the municipal code. The city presented photographs and ledgers recovered during the operation as part of a composite exhibit.
The city allowed representatives of the property owner to speak; the property owner's counsel noted receipt of notice and asked about next steps. After council questions and deliberation, Councilman Luis Gonzales moved and Councilman Luis Rodriguez seconded a motion to sustain the revocation. The clerk called the roll and the motion carried; the council instructed the law department to enter a formal order within 10 days.
The council action applies to the business tax receipt holder; the property owner was not the license holder and the revocation does not automatically impose a penalty on the owner but may be used to guide landlord remedies. The city attorney's office said it will issue a written order and provide guidance on enforcement steps to the property owner.
