19 Perth Amboy Men Part Of 'Hot Boys Mafia' Gang; Sold Drugs, Guns: AG

PERTH AMBOY, NJ — On Wednesday, NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin announced his office made inroads dismantling a Perth Amboy street gang that sold cocaine and guns, and committed violent crimes, including a machete attack, on members of rival gangs.

In total, 19 Perth Amboy residents — 17 men and two women — were arrested and tied to the gang. They are believed to be a local subset of the "Dominicans Don’t Play" gang and "Hot Boys Mafia."

This is following a 10-month-long joint investigation by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the Perth Amboy Police Department’s Special Investigation Unit, with assistance from the Somerset and Middlesex County prosecutors.

One of the main goals of the Hot Boys Mafia was to purge opposing gangs from Perth Amboy and assume dominance, said the Attorney General.

“We will not tolerate New Jersey’s great cities, rich with culture and history, being reduced to battlegrounds where turf wars between criminal organizations are fought," said Derek Nececkas, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice.

The Attorney General says they used Instagram and the Telegram messenger app to transact the drug sales, but also sold and processed the cocaine out of a multi-family house on Steadman Place in Perth Amboy.

Law enforcement raided three houses in Perth Amboy on June 20, 2023 — the Steadman Place home, and houses on Rector Street and Long Ferry Road — where officers apprehended all but one of the suspects. Police confiscated $9,000 in cash, 13 pounds of marijuana, a 9-mm handgun, several kilos of imitation drugs, hundreds of marijuana vape cartridges, boxes of pills and ammunition, along with drug distribution packaging materials, such as digital scales coated with drug residue.

The gang was allegedly under the command of Domingo Paulino, 29, of Perth Amboy, and his second-in-command, Adonis “Pantera” Estevez, 21, of Perth Amboy, both charged with racketeering and a series of drug offenses stemming from their oversight of the gang.

Police are searching for Estevez, who is still a fugitive.

According to the investigation, Hot Boys Mafia members committed a carjacking, aggravated assaults, gun offenses and other crimes as part of a long-running feud with other gangs in the Perth Amboy area, including the Trinitarios and Always Cumulating Racks street gangs, in 2022 and 2023.

The violence includes a machete attack on October 11, 2022 that sent a reputed member of the Trinitarios street gang to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge with head lacerations that had to be stapled shut. In another incident, on April 26, 2022, five men believed to be members of Hot Boys Mafia approached a car driven by a rival gang member in Perth Amboy and carjacked the driver.

Detectives also say Hot Boys Mafia members driving dirt bikes swarmed a car in Woodbridge's Hopelawn section on April 12, 2023, beating the driver unconscious with a helmet and their fists.

Police say three reputed Hot Boys Mafia members — Angel Santiago, Elias Fuentes, and a juvenile whose name is not being released — traveled to Georgia in August 2022 to get firearms and bring them back to New Jersey.

“The takedown of the Hot Boys Mafia sends a clear message to all who engage in criminal activities and threaten the safety and well-being of our residents: Law enforcement agencies in New Jersey stand united and will not rest until justice is served,” said Perth Amboy Police Chief Lawrence Cattano. “The men and women of our Police Department will continue to work tirelessly to rid our streets of criminal organizations."

Sixteen adults and three juveniles were charged. The adult defendants are charged as follows:

Domingo Paulino, 29, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Leader of Organized Crime — 2nd Degree
Promoting Organized Street Crime — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (cocaine) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree
Aggravated Assault (two counts)

Henderson Gomez, 29, of Perth Amboy
Promoting Organized Street Crime — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (cocaine) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree
Distribution of CDS (cocaine) — 2nd Degree
Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a CDS Offense — 2nd Degree
Money Laundering — 3rd Degree
Possession with Intent to Distribute Imitation CDS — 3rd Degree

Imanol Rodriguez, 19, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Commit Robbery — 2nd Degree
Carjacking — 1st Degree
Robbery — 1st Degree
Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose
Unlawful Possession of a Weapon — 2nd Degree
Aggravated Assault — 4th Degree
Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree
Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree
Possession of a Weapons for an Unlawful Purpose — 3rd Degree (machete)

Kerlin Adino-Rodriguez, 21, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (cocaine) — 2nd Degree
Possession of CDS (cocaine) — 3rd Degree
Distribution of CDS (cocaine) — 2nd Degree
Possession of CDS (fentanyl) — 3rd Degree
Distribution of CDS (fentanyl pills) — 3rd Degree

Adonis Estevez, 21, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree

Angel Santiago, 19, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Traffic Weapons from Out-of-State for Sale — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Transfer or Dispose of Weapons — 4th Degree
Conspiracy to Possess a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose — 2nd Degree
Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a CDS Offense — 2nd Degree

Elias Fuentes, 19, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Traffic Weapons from Out-of-State for Sale — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Transfer or Dispose of Weapons – 4th Degree
Conspiracy to Possession a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose — 2nd Degree
Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a CDS Offense — 2nd Degree

Henry Basora, 31, of Perth Amboy
Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree

Nazir Clark, 20, of Perth Amboy
Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Possess a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose — 2nd Degree

Jean Carlos Mercado Rodriguez, 22, of Perth Amboy
Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Possess a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose — 2nd Degree

Miguel Baez-Ruiz, 20, of Perth Amboy
Racketeering — 1st Degree
Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Possess a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose — 2nd Degree

Juelz Vaughn, 18, of Perth Amboy
Conspiracy to Distribute CDS (marijuana) — 2nd Degree
Conspiracy to Possess a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose — 2nd Degree
Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a CDS Offense — 2nd Degree

Rosselyn Rosario, 32, of Perth Amboy
Possession with Intent to Distribute Imitation CDS — 3rd Degree
Unlawful Possession of a Handgun — 2nd Degree
Possession of a Firearm During the Course of Committing a CDS offense — 2nd Degree

Argenis Gomez-Olivares, 31, of Perth Amboy
Possession with Intent to Distribute Imitation CDS — 3rd Degree

Dersi Olivares, 57, of Perth Amboy
Possession with Intent to Distribute Imitation CDS — 3rd Degree

Maureen Shenouda, 42, of Perth Amboy
Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana — 2nd Degree
Possession of Five Pounds or More of Marijuana — 4th Degree