Alleged human trafficking ring broken up in New Jersey, officials announce

BRIDGETON, NJ – A suspected human trafficking ring was dismantled in New Jersey as state officials announced that seven people have been charged in two separate human trafficking operations in North and South Jersey.

One of the operations took place in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, where police said they hired new women every week.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police announced that seven defendants have been charged in connection with two separate human trafficking operations in North and South Jersey.

According to investigators, a human trafficking ring was based in Essex County. There, a human trafficker is said to have used physical violence to control young victims, subject them to sexual assault by strangers and profit from the abuse.

In the other case in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, investigators say new women from Queens, New York and Patterson, New Jersey were being brought to a home on North Laurel Street every week.

“Women were recruited under the false pretense that they would work as dancers, but instead they were taken to a house in Bridgeton where they were offered for commercial sex,” Platkin says. “They were taken to Bridgeton where they were allegedly forced to perform sexual acts on hundreds of men over the course of the week, and while in the home, the victims also allegedly witnessed violent activity.”

Investigators say the state grand jury has indicted Usiel Luna, 42, of Bridgeton, along with his alleged co-conspirators – Jose Perez-Lopez, 40, Rosendo Vazquez-Hernandez, 35, and Yerson Puentes-Marquez, 28 – Bridgeton . Investigators said the defendants also distributed drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine.

“We need to dispel the myths and misconceptions about human trafficking, including the popular idea that it only happens to other people,” says Platkin.

Mahmoud Zayyad, a business owner in Bridgeton for decades, including an auto repair shop across the street from the alleged brothel, says he never could have imagined what was going on there.

“I never noticed any of these places here, especially across the street from one of my stores,” he says. “Especially the children and families in the area don’t want to hear that there is a prostitution house next to you. I think they should be punished.”

Investigators assume that Luna, who was charged with running the ring, would face 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office urges any victims or members of the public who see someone they suspect is being subjected to this type of exploitation to call their confidential hotline 855-END-NJ-HT.