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New Jersey State Police watched 10 men enter a Hudson Street home in Trenton through the back door and then exit 15 to 20 minutes later one January night, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
A man then came out and locked the gate, the attorney general said.
A search-warranted raid later that night included members of the State Police T.E.A.M.S. Unit, K-9 Unit and Crime Suppression Central Unit, along with ICE agents and Trenton police, he said.
They found the place fortified with a “high-level padlock on the gate leading to the alley to the rear door, a 2x4 wood plank across the entrance door, and a sophisticated surveillance system,” Platkin said.
A 17-year-old victim had been assigned to a main-level bedroom, one of several in the house that each contained a bed, a nearby table equipped with a bottle of rubbing alcohol, paper towels, condoms and lubricant, a trash can and a chair.
“With the exception of suitcases in the closet and a bicycle in the juvenile’s bedroom, the bedrooms contained no personal effects,” Platkin said.
Among those arrested was Paulino “Pablo” Macolas-Aguirre, 43, whom the attorney general identified as the boss of the operation.
Macolas-Aguirre recruited and at times lured the female victims to the operation and ordered “which house each woman should be assigned to and when they should be relocated to another house,” Platkin said.
Macolas-Aguirre paid the workers and victims at the end of each week and “created and distributed business cards to ensure a steady stream of customers,” he said.
Thus began “Operation Hudson House.”
The investigation headed by the NJSP Missing Persons and Human Trafficking Unit identified victims being shuttled between the Trenton home and another on Prospect Street in Asbury Park, where “men purchased poker chips entitling them to select a female for sexual activity for a specific period of time,” Platkin said.
Along the way, the team identified “the hub of the operation” -- a house on Woodland Street in Trenton, he said.
They also raided the Asbury Park location and Macolas-Aguirre’s home on Bridge Street in Trenton, located two more victims and seized cash and a ledger that listed the victims’ names along with the number of customers they serviced each day, the attorney general said.
A racketeering and conspiracy indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton names Macolas-Aguirre and seven other defendants charged in the takedown, Platkin said.
The indictment obtained by a prosecutor with the state Division of Criminal Justice’s Human Trafficking Unit also charges various people with other related crimes – among them, human trafficking, promoting prostitution, sexual assault and money laundering.
“Forcing anyone - let alone a minor – to perform sexual acts for money is a despicable crime and a brutal abuse of power targeting the most vulnerable victims,” Platkin said.
Advocates and related service providers will now “begin the hard work of helping these survivors live past their trauma,” he added.
Macolas-Aguirre was charged with conspiracy, racketeering, human trafficking, promoting prostitution of a minor, facilitating human trafficking, sexual assault and money laundering.
So were Edy Villeda-Estrada, 39, of Asbury Park, and Daniel Camara-Bonito 55, of Trenton, who Platkin said were “tasked with managing the houses of prostitution,” including “permitting customers inside the houses, taking money from the customers and providing them access to the victims.”
Charged with similar offenses were Macolas-Aguirre’s sister, Laura Macolas-Aguirre, 45, of Asbury Park, and Efran Melo-Castillo, 30, of Trenton, who shuttled the victims to homes and “outcall services,” obtained food and other supplies, and paid rent to landlords, among other duties, the attorney general said.
Two other defendants – brothers Daniel Handerson Camara-Perico, 31, and Jose G. Camara-Perico, 30, both of of Trenton – collected the illicit operation’s proceeds for Macolas-Aguirre and monitored the surveillance systems via a phone app, the indictment charges.
Also named in the indictment is their sister, Daniela Camara-Perico, 29, of Trenton – whose father, like theirs, is Daniel Camara-Bonito. She allegedly pressured the juvenile to help keep those involved from being charged.
A judge ordered Paulino Macolas-Aguirre, Laura Macolas-Aguirre, Efran Melo-Castillo and Jose Camara-Perico detained until trial, Platkin said.
Still at large are Daniel Camara-Perico and Daniela Camara-Perico, he said, adding that both are considered fugitives.
Deputy Attorney General Heather Hausleben is prosecuting the case for the Human Trafficking Unit. The New Jersey State Police Missing Persons & Human Trafficking Unit headed the investigation, assisted by Trenton and Asbury Park police and other law enforcement agencies, Platkin said.
ANYONE who knows of or suspects sex- or labor-related human trafficking is urged to confidentially report such activity to the Division of Criminal Justice’s 24-hour NJ Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-855-END-NJ-HT.
In addition, members of the public who suspect improper contact by persons communicating with children on the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children can contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline: 888-648-6007.
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