Five alleged heroin dealers, who used luxury vehicles as code names for their high-purity wares, were indicted for distributing the drug throughout Queens and Brooklyn, federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on three of the alleged dealers’ homes, two of their vehicles and two additional stash houses. The agents found over four kilograms of heroin, three firearms — including one with a defaced serial number — more than $100,000 in U.S. currency and various drug paraphernalia, including more than 10,000 glassine envelopes, prosecutors said.
A sixth defendant was arrested and charged with possessing heroin as part of the operation.
“As alleged in the indictment and complaint, these defendants distributed high purity heroin in our communities, with life-threatening consequences,” said United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue. “With today’s arrests, their drug trafficking operation has been dismantled, and the defendants will now face justice for their crimes.”
Court filings state that the suspected dealers — Dino “Dinito” Sanchez, Raliek “Burger” Brown and Rogelio “Macho” Vargan of East New York; Alex Aybar of Bayside; Ramon “Junior” Sanabria of South Ozone Park; and Melvin “Mel” Sanabria of East Rockaway, Long Island — regularly acquired kilograms of heroin to process, repackage and distribute in South Ozone Park, East New York and Bushwick, among other neighborhoods.
Text messages obtained by authorities showed that Sanchez texted Melbin Sanabria in coded terms to indicate he had a “bentley” and a “phantom” for Sanabria, using the names of luxury foreign cars in place of the varieties of heroin.
In an intercepted phone call, Sanabria complained that a subsequent sample provided by Sanchez was of inferior quality, stating, “I don’t rent hondas or acuras … around here we drive benz and lambos,” according to court filings.
The defendants were arraigned yesterday before Chief United States Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann. If convicted of the crimes, the defendants face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years’ imprisonment and up to life imprisonment.
