TRENTON — Two city bars were shut down and 15 people arrested during checks of the establishments by city police, the State Police and federal immigration agents Friday night, Trenton police said today.
Capital Pub on the 800 block of Genesee Street and El Rancho restaurant at 200 Fulton Street — the former location of the popular Italian eatery Sal DeForte’s — were shut down for a combination of municipal and fire code violations, Lt. Lenny Aviles said.
The bar checks for possible Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) violations took place after police obtained evidence the bars were possibly operating outside state law, and following numerous complaints by area residents.
“We’re actively trying to maintain the tranquility of the neighborhood,” Aviles said. “Certain bars seem prone to illegal activity. They become nuisance bars, unfortunately, that we have to return to.”
Capital Pub was raided and shut down last April after authorities found numerous violations, including rodent feces in the kitchen. During that earlier operation, police also targeted Chapala II on the 200 block of Morris Avenue, which they visited again Friday night.
Though arrests were made Friday at Chapala II for immigration and drug offenses, the bar was allowed to remain open and the owners seemed to have taken lessons from the first raid to heart, police said.
“Apparently, Chapala seems like they complied with the last check they did and updated their codes,” said Aviles, the head of the Vice Enforcement Unit.
The other bars were not as compliant, police said. The bar manager at El Rancho was a fugitive from the law who had re-entered the U.S. illegally and was arrested, police said.
No team that raided the bars included vice detectives, state fire marshals, city health inspectors, detectives from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police TEAMS unit of specially-trained tactical troopers.
Authorities investigated whether women were being trafficked illegally to serve men in the bars, but none of the charges are connected to human trafficking, Aviles said. Those elements remain under investigation, he said.