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Nine people were busted in a massive drug and prostitution ring at a New Jersey go-go bar, police said.
A six-month investigation at AJ’s Go-Go Bar in Secaucus ended Tuesday with the arrest of nine men and women on charges ranging from promoting prostitution to distribution of cocaine, cops said.
Undercover detectives inside the jiggle joint bought various quantities of cocaine from employees and were also offered sex for cash, Secaucus police said.
A host of drugs — including more than two ounces of cocaine and in excess of 400 Oxycontin pills — were seized along with $40,000 in cash during a search of the go-go bar Tuesday. The money is believed to have come from “nefarious activity,” Secaucus police Chief Dennis Miller said.
“Increasingly in the past two years, crime have routinely been committed within AJ’s at an alarming rate,” Miller said in a statement.
Several aggravated assaults, firearms-related incidents and an overdose in the bathroom of the bar have been reported in that span, police said.
Investigators were also tipped off to allegations that employees at AJ’s were selling drugs directly to customers, Miller said.
Those arrested in the probe included Caroleen Garcia-Garcia, 41, of the Bronx, for allegedly engaging in prostitution, along with Maylin Hechavarria, 30, of Newark; Rosanni Reyes, 45, of Belleville; and Leidy Munoz-Gomez, 40, of North Bergen, on the same charge.
Jason Koch, 52, of Hawthorne, was charged with promoting prostitution and several drug counts, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine and Oxycontin, police said.
Carlos Busatmante, whose age and hometown was not provided, was also charged with four counts of cocaine distribution and other drug charges. Three other suspects who were arrested for drug or weapon possession were identified as Elizabeth Nauer, 33, of Bayonne; Frank Lovato, 54, of Wyckoff; and Jeana Branda, 32, of Secaucus, who allegedly had a knife.
It’s unclear if any of the suspects had attorneys who could comment on their behalf. Munoz-Gomez, Koch and Bustamante were being held Wednesday at the Hudson County Jail, Secaucus police said.
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