Crime & Safety

SWAT Team Raids Home Looking for Evidence in Moon Prostitution Case

Moon Police obtain a search warrant for a former residence of a retired Pittsburgh detective charged in the case.

The Pittsburgh Police SWAT Team startled a family living in a house in East Liberty when it raided it this morning while attempting to gather evidence against a former city detective charged with  

SWAT officers kicked down the door of the home on Collins Avenue while executing a search warrant at what had been the home of Talib Kevin Ghafoor. Ghafoor, 55, a former Pittsburgh narcotics detective, was charged with felony prostitution offenses in Moon in March. 

When officers entered the home, they found a woman, her 14-year-old son and three young foster children. The woman, who was not identified, told police her family recently switched homes with Ghafoor.  

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The woman told officers that Ghafoor currently lives at her former residence but still receives mail at the Collins Avenue address and keeps his belongings there. Moon Police obtained the search warrant served by the city officers.

Chief Leo McCarthy said when SWAT officers approached the home they saw someone looking outside from an upstairs window. Believing that they may have been spotted and in danger, the officers kicked down the door, he said. No one was injured during the entry. 

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McCarthy said officers seized two computers belonging to Ghafoor during the search. He said Moon Police detectives were attempting to locate computers believed to have been used to purchase  advertisements for prostitution on the local classifieds website Backpage.com.

Ghafoor and his girlfriend,  Sabina Earlene Sailer, 43, of Florida, were arrested last month in a prostitution sting conducted by Moon Police. Police said Sailer was soliciting prostitution online.

Police said Ghafoor drove Sailer to the  hotel on Cherrington Parkway to have sex with an undercover Moon Police detective for money. Ghafoor is charged with three counts of felony prostitution and criminal conspiracy and one count of misdemeanor possessing instruments of crime.

resigned from the Pittsburgh Police Department in 2008 after more than 20 years with the department. Prior to his retirement,  he was being investigated for giving contradictory testimony in a homicide investigation but was not charged with any wrongdoing.  

Pittsburgh Police declined to comment on the incident today. Ghafoor is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing May 3 in Coraopolis District Court.

Check back with Patch for coverage.  


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