Authorities believe illegal immigrants were forced to work as prostitutes

Federal agents fanned out across North Jersey yesterday to dismantle a trafficking network they suspect forced undocumented Mexican immigrants into a life of prostitution.

Agents and officers raided 15 locations in Union City and West New York, rounding up more than 60 people and charging two men they said helped funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in smuggling and prostitution proceeds across the border.

The arrests capped an investigation that spanned nearly two years and spread across four states and the District of Columbia. Investigators believe the ring may have been in existence for twice as long, and could have trapped hundreds of immigrant women.

Some may have voluntarily sold their bodies, but agents believe others were unwittingly lured into prostitution, shuttled each week to unfamiliar houses and cowed by threats they would be beaten, jailed, deported or left for dead if they tried to flee or alerted police. They expect to spend days or weeks interviewing the women.

"We need to sort everything out -- who was trafficked, who's doing this willingly," said Kyle Hutchins, the special agent in charge of the Newark division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "I absolutely believe that we will find individuals who were victims of trafficking."

The phenomenon of human trafficking, particularly for use in sex trades, has become a rising priority for U.S. law enforcement. Yesterday's arrests mark the fourth time in as many years authorities in New Jersey have dismantled a smuggling ring suspected of forcing or encouraging illegal aliens into prostitution.

This investigation started in 2004, after officials in San Diego detained an immigrant who told them about the New Jersey-based pipeline. Agents in New Jersey then used months of wiretaps, informants and surveillance to identify the ring operators and their routine.

On Sunday night, with the assistance of the New Jersey State Police, federal authorities intercepted a car and a van on the New Jersey Turnpike that were allegedly transporting women back from brothels in Maryland.

Yesterday's early-morning raids in Union City, West New York and Queens, N.Y., netted another 28 suspected prostitutes plus 26 men who may have some role in the operation, officials said. Police also found a dozen youngsters, including toddlers, believed to be children of the prostitutes.

Despite the wide dragnet by ICE and Department of Labor officials, only two men were charged with crimes. José Luis Notario, 50, of Union City, was accused of conspiring to harbor illegal aliens. He and his brother, José Ignacio Notario, 46, of West New York, were also charged with running an unlicensed money transmitting business.