{"id":3750,"date":"2026-07-04T19:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3750"},"modified":"2026-07-04T19:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:07:00","slug":"three-newark-motel-rooms-were-converted-into-a-brothel-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3750","title":{"rendered":"Three Newark motel rooms were converted into a brothel, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEWARK \u2014 Police here raided a local motel, seizing evidence of human trafficking, after they identified it as the new location for a brothel that police had shut down back in April, court records show.<\/p>\n

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The June 19 raid of the EZ-8 Motel focused on three rooms that were allegedly rented out by operators of a prostitution ring. Police say they staked out the location for hours, watching various men enter and leave after half-hour durations, and that they identified the location after following up an online sex ad.<\/p>\n

The online ad was identical to one connected to a brothel on Peralta Terrace, which police raided last April, seizing $5,000 in cash, ledgers documenting various sex workers\u2019 gross income, sex toys, baby oil, and numerous condoms, according to court records. The April investigation started with a chilling plea for help from a woman, who texted a 911 dispatcher, \u201cI need help now, I was forced into prostitution,\u201d and that she was \u201chiding in the bathroom, can\u2019t talk,\u201d authorities said.<\/p>\n

Police searched to the residence, and contacted several women there. The suspected brothel\u2019s operators denied anything illegal was going on and claimed to be a Los Angeles resident, authorities said.<\/p>\n

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On June 19, police sent an undercover officer in the hotel, where he was greeted by a woman in a nightgown. They agreed to a $120 price, then uniformed officers moved in. The woman declined to speak with police and refused human trafficking victim services, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The EZ-8 Motel is located on Cedar Avenue. In the 2010s, it was a notorious location, which a city planning commission considered forcing to close. City officials at the time described it as a hotbed for drug sales, prostitution, and other crime, including a 2012 incident where a 17-year-old Pleasanton girl was found dead there, along with a man in his 20s she ended up with after running away from home.<\/p>\n

The motel\u2019s operators didn\u2019t immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

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The investigation started with a chilling text to a Newark police dispatcher: “I need help now, I was forced into prostitution, hiding in the bathroom and can’t talk.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThree Newark motel rooms were converted into a brothel, police say - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3750\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Newark motel rooms were converted into a brothel, police say - 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