South Jersey man charged with human trafficking
El Joshua was accused of keeping three women captive.
A Mays Landing man has been charged with human trafficking in connection with keeping three women captive, the Office of the Atlantic County Prosecutor said Sunday.
El Joshua, 36, forced the women to engage in various forms of labor, including prostitution and “domestic servitude,” through violence, threats of violence, and providing them heroin “over a period of time," the prosecutor’s office said in a news release. One of the women escaped through a window and told authorities about the others, according to the statement.
Joshua’s arrest Thursday followed a two-month investigation by the Township of Hamilton Police Department and the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force.
Joshua was charged with five counts of human trafficking, two counts of criminal restraint, and one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He was being held Sunday in the Atlantic County Justice Facility. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office would not answer any questions about the arrest.