Old-school street hustle costs a man $4,000 and his Rolex, Miami police say
A Miami man swindled a person out of $4,000 in cash and a Rolex watch through an illegal street gambling game called three-card monte, police said Thursday.
On May 14, officers went to 11 NW Sixth St. in downtown Miami to investigate a possible fraudulent gambling scheme, the Miami Police Department said in a statement.
A man told police he was approached by several men operating a three-card monte game near the entrance of the Crosby Miami Worldcenter hotel, according to an arrest affidavit. It’s a sleight-of hand game that can be played with cards or cups, but in this case, the operator hid a ball under one of three cups.
He and his girlfriend were encouraged to play after watching the game, the affidavit said.
In these schemes, a victim is manipulated through sleight-of-hand techniques, coordinated distractions or accomplices posing as successful players, according to the affidavit. These pseudo-bystanders make it appear the game is legitimate and winnable, so victims will wager and lose money and other valuables.
Through these tactics, the man was defrauded of around $4,000 in cash and a Rolex valued at roughly $7,000, the affidavit said.
Police identified Jordan Alexander Bustillo, 20, as the primary organizer of the scheme, the affidavit said. The victim identified him in a photo lineup days later.
When officers arrested Bustillo on Wednesday, he had around $17,040 in cash inside his blue cross‑body bag along with $18 in his wallet, the affidavit said. Detectives also found four iPhones, two Samsung cellphones, high‑end watches and jewelry, around $16,830 in cash, a stolen Glock 48 firearm and an M&P Shield 9 firearm through a residential search warrant.
He was known in the downtown Miami and Brickell areas for scamming people through this game, the affidavit said. There was at least one other incident in which Bustillo is accused of conning a player out of $4,000.
Bustillo was being held on Thursday on seven charges, including obtaining property by gaming and organized scheme to defraud, at the Miami-Dade Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, jail records show. His public defender didn’t immediately respond Thursday to a request for comments. His bond was set at $15,000.
“The Special Investigations Section, Organized Crime / Fraud Detail remains committed to identifying, disrupting and dismantling fraudulent operations that impact residents and visitors within the City of Miami,” the department said.
