UNION CITY - Two bars where women and girls said they were forced to drink and dance with patrons were ordered closed Friday night by special order of Police Chief Charles Everett. Residents of North Hudson said they weren't shocked to hear the news that 10 people were indicted in federal court for smuggling women - some as young as 14 years old - into Hudson County and forcing them to drink and dance with patrons at bars in Union City and Guttenberg.

Several of the women and girls told authorities they were smuggled from Honduras to the United States after being promised waitressing jobs here. Instead, they said they were raped by their captors, forced to have abortions if they became pregnant, and told they would have to entertain male customers in order to work off thousands of dollars in debt. Authorities are investigating a report from a 21-year-old who said, despite being forced to take abortion-inducing pills, she gave birth in a safe house in January; her newborn, she said, died after her captors allegedly tried to stuff the baby down the toilet.

Luisa Medrano, 50, of Cliffside Park, the accused ringleader, was charged Thursday with illegally bringing dozens of girls into the country to entertain customers at bars in Union City and Guttenberg.

Medrano, a naturalized citizen from El Salvador, owns two Union City bars - El Paisano Bar and Nightclub, 509 22nd St., and El Puerto de la Union Restaurant II, 3806 Bergenline Ave., Union City - and El Puerto de la Union in Guttenberg. She had received a license last month to open another bar in Guttenberg, according to town records.

Everett sent a "special order" to the office of Mayor Brian Stack at 7:58 p.m. on Friday, declaring the two Union City bars closed indefinitely. He also instructed detectives to seize their liquor licenses and ordered cops to make sure the bars remained closed until further notice.

The Guttenberg bar was apparently open for business Friday, but no one answered the phone there yesterday.

"It's not right, if what they're saying is true," said a man delivering goods to El Puerto de la Union in Guttenberg on Friday. At least three employees were in the restaurant that day but they would not speak to a reporter.

"I'm not surprised," said a bartender at La Perla del Sur Bar, which is situated in Guttenberg on 68th Street and Bergenline Avenue, right next to El Puerto de la Union.

"That's been happening here for at least two years," she said, noting that the girls didn't "look like they were from around here."

Yolanda Zuluaea was shocked to hear that news that a sex smuggling ring had been operating right next door to the pediatrician's office where she takes her 22-month-old son, Kevin, for checkups.

Medrano may face up to 20 years in prison for the labor charge alone, officials said.

"She should go to jail," said Ines Rodriguez, who works at the Bella Vista Apartments, a 22nd Street senior citizen housing complex.