Nassau Man Charged In Brooklyn Heroin Distribution Ring

A Long Island man was among six people arrested today and charged in Brooklyn court for distributing heroin around New York City.

Arrested were Melvin Sanabria, aka Mel, 42, of East Rockaway; Dino Sanchez, aka Dinito, 40, of East New York, Brooklyn; Alex Aybar, 47, of Bayside, Queens; Raliek Brown, aka Burger, 36, of East New York, Brooklyn; Rogelio Vargas, aka Macho, 43, of East New York, Brooklyn; and Ramon Sanabria, aka Junior, 48, of South Ozone Park, Queens.

“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 Donoghue. “With today’s arrests, their drug trafficking operation has been dismantled, and the defendants will now face justice for their crimes.”

According to Donoghue, the six regularly got kilograms of heroin, which they processed, repackaged and sold on the streets of Brooklyn and in South Ozone Park. Prosecutors say they would routinely test the quality of the heroin to make sure it was potent.

The indictment tells how the group would use coded language in text messages to refer to the drugs, using makes of cars to refer to how good the drugs were. In one exchange, which was captured in a court-authorized surveilance, one member texted the other saying he had a "bently" and a "phantom" for the other. In an intercepted call later, one of the drug runners complained that a previous sample he had received was poor quality, the indictment says, saying, "I don't rent Hondas or Acuras...around here we drive Benz and Lambos."

Donoghue said that law enforcement searched the homes and stash houses of the six this morning, allegedly seizing more than four kilograms of heroin, three firearms (including one with a defaced serial number), more than $100,000 in cash, and various drug paraphernalia, including more than 10,000 glassine envelopes.

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