A Hartford man arrested on human trafficking charges allegedly used several Connecticut homes and motels to traffic as many as six women at a time while using their drug addictions and abuse to maintain control over them.

Allen Lozada, 34, was arrested on Dec. 29 on three counts each of coercion and trafficking in persons, two counts of second-degree assault and a single count of second-degree criminal mischief, according to Connecticut State Police.

The arrest came following a joint investigation between the East Hartford Police Department and the state police Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, police found that Lozada used homes in East Hartford and Chester where the owners allegedly owed him a drug debt. He also allegedly used motels in several towns and has been accused of forcing as many as six women into prostitution, state police wrote.

Multiple individuals who were involved in the operation cooperated with authorities, the warrant affidavit said.

The investigation began when East Hartford police responded to a residence on Phelps Street in February 2024 and became suspicious that either commercial sex or drug activity was occurring there, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. State police allege that investigators found that Lozada was using the home for both human trafficking and distributing narcotics.

In May 2025, an individual was arrested at the Phelps Street home on drug possession, criminal trespass and interfering charges, according to the warrant affidavit. The individual cooperated with authorities and alleged that Lozada was using the home to satisfy the man’s drug debt, state police wrote.

Police interviewed the cooperating witness in July when he alleged that Lozada had asked him to move two trafficking victims from the East Hartford home to a home on Goose Hill Road in Chester, the warrant affidavit said. The witness alleged that Lozada indicated he was moving his operation because he suspected that the “feds” were onto him, according to the warrant affidavit.

A second cooperating witness associated with the Chester home told police an individual who goes by “AP,” who police believe is Lozada, had allegedly threatened them after suspecting that they stole money from him, the warrant affidavit said. Authorities were told by one of the victims that the nickname stands for “Actual Pimp,” the warrant affidavit said.

Investigators found that the two alleged trafficking victims had made posts to a website called “Skip the Games” where they allegedly advertised for sexual services, the warrant affidavit said. State police allege that they uncovered records on Cash App that showed they would take the funds they were given and immediately transfer them to Lozada, according to the warrant affidavit. The transactions generally ranged from $150 to $250, state police wrote.

Investigators were also able to uncover cell phone records using a search warrant that allegedly showed Lozada maintained contact with one of the women while she was actively offering prostitution services, the warrant affidavit said. The records allegedly showed that she was primarily operating in East Lyme, Waterford, Groton and New London.

State police said phone records also showed that Lozada maintained “regular communication” with another woman who was also allegedly offering prostitution services from Chester and Springfield, Massachusetts, the warrant affidavit said. Despite her advertisements indicating she was working independently and with “no pimps,” state police wrote in the warrant, authorities allegedly found that Lozada had “control over her activities.”

In September, state police investigators pulled Lozada over at the Maple and Main Street intersection in East Hartford where they used search warrants to seize four cell phones and an iPad, according to the warrant affidavit.

An examination of the devices allegedly showed “a significant amount” of evidence of human trafficking, state police said in the warrant. This allegedly included screenshots of sex work ads and text message conversations, the warrant affidavit said.

Another woman allowed police to examine her cell phone, which allegedly showed evidence suggesting Lozada used threats of force toward her, the warrant affidavit said.

“Get the (expletive) up n see some dates or im (expletive) u up,” one text allegedly said, according to the warrant.

Another text message conversation between one of the women and a cooperating witness allegedly showed that they had to check with Lozada before the man took the woman to an “outcall,” the warrant affidavit said.

“This conversation shows that both (individuals) feel obligated to tell Lozada about a pending outcall, evidencing some control by Lozada,” state police wrote.

Other text messages allegedly showed Lozada making threats and demanding money from one of the women, according to the warrant affidavit.

One of the women told police she met Lozada through an ad she had posted. After that, she said, he allegedly began selling her drugs and forcing her to do sex work for him, the warrant affidavit said. Another one of the women claimed she had never performed sex work before but was allegedly forced to after she began buying fentanyl from Lozada, according to the warrant affidavit.

One of the women alleged that Lozada “pimped out” as many as six women from the home in East Hartford where an individual owed him a drug debt, the warrant affidavit said. He would allegedly collect all the profits and pay the women back in drugs, the warrant affidavit said.

“She stated that ‘AP’ maintained strict control through threats and violence, including threatening to tie cinder blocks to their ankles and throw them off his boat if they spoke to police or owed money,” state police wrote in the warrant affidavit. “She stated that ‘AP’ would also beat the women if the customers did not pay.”

One of the women said she was subjected to regular abuse from Lozada, which included cigarette burns that left permanent scars, according to the warrant affidavit. She also alleged that he would regularly carry a large knife that he would hold to her neck at times, state police wrote.

The same woman claimed that Lozada would move her between motels in Hartford, Meriden and East Windsor, the warrant affidavit said. She alleged to police that he once “severely beat” her over a $7 debt, police wrote. She said she was hospitalized following the assault.

Lozada was held on bond and arraigned in Hartford Superior Court the morning following his arrest, court records show. He remains held in lieu of $1 million bond and is due back in court on Jan. 29.