By: Richard L. Smith
It started with a phone call on a September afternoon. A frightened 17-year-old girl, reported missing weeks earlier, reached out to law enforcement for help. 
What she revealed set off a multi-agency investigation that uncovered a human trafficking operation stretching across Essex and Passaic counties.
Detectives learned that the teenager had been forced into prostitution, her exploitation arranged by a group of women who treated her vulnerability as profit.
The case quickly drew the attention of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Newark Police Division, NJIT’s Department of Public Safety, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, and the Orange Police Department.
Working together, investigators identified four suspects they believe were behind the scheme.
By October 9, 2025, three women — Tajhane Thomas, 29, of Newark; Leslie Martinez, 34, of West Orange; and Amayah Dent, 28, of Maplewood — were in custody. A fourth, Yaislene Arguedas, 29, of Paterson, remains on the run.
“This type of crime preys on the most vulnerable members of our community,” Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said.