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During a four-month investigation, detectives discovered that the suspects smuggled female victims into the country and forced them into prostitution, State Police said.
On Jan. 21, detectives from the State Police Missing Persons & Human Trafficking Unit obtained information that a juvenile was being trafficked out of a residence on Hudson Street, in Trenton, they said.
Later in the day, detectives along with members of the State Police T.E.A.M.S. Unit, K-9 Unit, Crime Suppression Central Unit, Trenton Police Department, and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made a warranted search at the residence. As a result, detectives located two female victims inside the residence and arrested Daniel Bonito Camara, 55, of Trenton and Edy Villeda Estrada, 39, of Trenton, police said.
During the investigation, detectives discovered that one of the female victims was smuggled from Mexico to Texas under the belief that she would be working in a restaurant. However, she was involuntarily forced into a human sex trafficking operation. The juvenile was then trafficked into New Jersey where she continued to be forced into prostitution in Asbury Park before being moved to Trenton, police said.
Through various investigative means, detectives allegedly identified Paulino Macolas-Aguirre, 43, of Trenton, as the ringleader of the human trafficking operation and determined that he was operating out of multiple residences in Trenton, police said.
On May 11, detectives from the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons & Human Trafficking Unit, Trenton Police Department, Asbury Park Police Department, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Fugitive Unit and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice executed search warrants at various residences in Trenton. As a result, nine additional female victims were located, police said.
Detectives also obtained evidence that they were smuggled into the United States under the pretense they would be provided legitimate employment.
Due to this investigation, the following suspects have been charged with a variety of offenses including human trafficking, promoting organized street crime, money laundering, promoting child prostitution or maintaining a house of prostitution, and more:
- Paulino Macola- Aguirre, 43, of Trenton
- Daniel Bonito Camara, 55, of Trenton
- Edy Villeda Estrada, 39, of Trenton
- Efran Melocastillo, 30, of Trenton
- Jose Gabriel Camara Perico, 30 of Trenton
- Laura Macolas Aguirre, 44 of Asbury Park
- Daniel Handerson Camara Perico, 31 of Trenton
- Daniela Penco-Camara, 28 of Trenton
“Human trafficking victims are subjected to irreprehensible physical and emotional abuse because of the manipulation and fear-based tactics used by their perpetrators,” said Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
Daniel Handerson Camara Perico and Daniela Penco-Camara remain at large. All other suspects were being held in Mercer County Jail pending detention hearings.
If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call 855-END-NJ-HT. All tips remain anonymous.
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