Miami, FL
Sweetwater police arrest man in counterfeit bust at Dolphin Mall
Sweetwater police announced an arrest at Dolphin Mall ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Officers arrested 24-year-old Luis Merchan-Meron on two felony counts related to counterfeit goods. Investigators said they seized more than 150 items worth thousands of dollars from the back of his truck.
According to court documents, an undercover officer spotted a transaction in the mall parking lot from about 10 feet away.
Police moved in after witnessing someone allegedly buying designer bags from Merchan-Meron.
Operation Safe Holidays ramps up security
Sweetwater Assistant Police Chief Frank Fernandez said the department has increased security at the mall with uniformed and undercover officers as part of the city’s “Operation Safe Holidays” program.
“We have eyes, we have drones, we have motorcycles, we have uniforms, we have plain clothes. You can’t get away from us now,” Fernandez said.
Mayor stresses zero tolerance for fakes
Mayor Jose “Pepe” Diaz said the city has zero tolerance for counterfeit sales and has invested heavily in protecting shoppers.
“It’s all here to make sure that we protect those citizens that are coming here to make the purchase,” Diaz said. “Have a good time with your families, but there’s people that try to do illicit things like selling fake merchandise.”
Court records detail alleged profit margins
Court records show Merchan-Meron told police he buys the goods for about $8 each and sells them for up to $60. He said he does not know the supplier, only that the items are shipped from overseas.
The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.
While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.
Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.
Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.
The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.
In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings.
On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year.
Here’s a closer look at the market:
Miami Beach and the barrier islands
Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024.
Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119.
Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club.
Coastal mainland
Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings.
The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000.
The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle.
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