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Cops use undercover sting operation to arrest women offering salon services at their homes
Mark Peterson/Corbis via Getty Images

Texas cops use undercover sting operation to arrest women offering salon services at their homes

Is this really the best use of police resources right now?

Two women were arrested in Laredo, Texas, after they were caught running a beauty salon inside their homes. The women were arrested during an undercover sting operation by the Laredo Police Department.

Officers from the Laredo Police Department were informed of the activities through an anonymous tip sent to the Laredo Police Department mobile app on April 15. The tipster informed police that the women were advertising salon services on social media.

Police went on an undercover sting operation and arrested the women for offering beauty services from home. The cops were part of the COVID-19 task force enforcement detail.

Laredo police arrested Ana Isabel Castro-Garcia, 31, after she allegedly agreed to provide an undercover officer with a manicure. She was charged with "Violation of Emergency Management Plan C/B," according to KGNS-TV, an NBC affiliate in Laredo. Castro-Garcia was taken to the Webb County Jail for booking, where she was held on a $500 bond.

Brenda Stephany Mata, 20, was arrested after she reportedly agreed to perform eyelash service inside her home for an undercover cop. She was also charged with "Violation of Emergency Management Plan C/B" and was also taken to Webb County Jail and held on a $500 bond.

"Both of the violators independently solicited customers via social media. On both cases, an undercover officer working on the COVID-19 task force enforcement detail made contact with each solicitor to set up an appointment for a cosmetic, beauty service that is prohibited under the emergency ordinance," Laredo police said in a statement.

Authorities said that offering salon services, even at the person's home, is a violation of the stay-at-home orders instituted during the coronavirus pandemic.

The news of this cosmetology arrest comes only days after the owner of a salon in Dallas refused to close her business. Shelly Luther, who owns Salon a la Mode, announced that she would be defiantly reopening her salon during the coronavirus pandemic, despite orders that nonessential businesses must stay closed.

"I'm behind on my mortgage," Luther said. "I know a lot of my stylists haven't paid their mortgages. It's either come in and make money to be able to feed your family or stay home and freak out."

Luther, who employs 19 stylists at her salon, said her phone has been "ringing off the hook with people who want their hair done."

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