13 arrested, charged with paying for sex in sting near Boston mall, police say

The arrests were made after police conducted an undercover operation near the South Bay Mall on Wednesday.

Emily Sweeney | June 6th, 2025, 3:03 PM

Polce in Boston charged 13 people with paying for sex after conducting an undercover operation on Wednesday near the South Bay Mall.

“Undercover Boston Police Officers were utilized to help identify exploiters, traffickers, and sex buyers,” police said in a statement. “Their efforts were to help curb the exploitation within this particular area.”

The operation was conducted in the area of Massachusetts Avenue near the mall, and the following people were arrested and charged with soliciting sex for a fee.

Abshir Mohamed, 31, of Roxbury

Jose Diaz Belen, 58, of Dorchester

David Pingley, 61, of Boston

Jose Lopez Rodriguez, 34, of Springfield, Vt.

Guillermo Prudencio, 45, of Revere

Bruce Weinstein, 68, of Dorchester

Timothy Smith, 62, of Dorchester

Sumanth Subbanna, 27, of Boston

Nacius Magis, 29, of Boston

Shawndee Josephs, 27, of Revere

Yeison Arias Lara, 33, of Mattapan

David Lora, 46, of Milton

Jason Armengol, 32, of Jacksonville, Fla., who was also charged with possession of a Class B drug and had an active arrest warrant for violating an abuse prevention order, police said.

The operation was conducted by members of the Boston Police Department’s Human Trafficking unit and the Internet Crimes Against Children unit, the State Police Special Services Section’s High Risk Victims Squad, and the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, police said.

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