The alleged drug crew operated their business from an apartment inside this building, at 4190 Bedford Ave. in Sheepshead Bay, according to the charges. Credit: Google Maps
Five men who peddled heroin, oxycodone and other drugs in a Brooklyn neighborhood for at least 14 months have been charged in a new indictment after text messages detailing the group’s activities were revealed, special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan announced on Tuesday.
Jack Zibak, Jack Zaibak, Eduard Sorin, David Gerowitz and Philip Mandel are accused of selling the drugs from a Bedford Avenue apartment in Sheepshead Bay between February 2012 and March 2013 and using mass text messages to communicate with their customers, according to the charges.
The messages detailed what drugs were for sale and what time they would be open for business.
“Awesome batch of dob just came!!! Open from now till 7:30 also blues stix & subs,” one of the messages read.
D.O.B. refers to the brand name of heroin used. The men used code words for the other drugs: “blue stix” referred to Xanax, “subs” meant Suboxone, “blues” oxycodone, “kpins” Klonopin and “white girl” cocaine.
But drug seekers were never welcome after sundown on Friday or before sunrise on Saturday. The drug crew had a strict policy of closing shop in observation of Shabbat, and repeatedly sent messages reminding customers not to show up during those hours.
On March 29, Sorin wrote in a text message to a customer, “He said he can’t do that but he can give you an 8 for 275 but its only gonna be tomorrow because he is closed for Shabbat. And the safe is locked.”
In another text on April 12, crew members wrote, “We are closing 7:30 on the dot and we will reopen Saturday 8:15 so if u need anything you have 45mins to get what you want.”
All five men were arrested in April after the group sold heroin to an undercover cop for $8,500. A subsequent five-month investigation shed light on the group’s methods and drug sources.
During a search of the apartment, police seized approximately 900 glassines of heroin, 335 oxycodone pills, a small quantity of cocaine, Xanax, Suboxone and Klonopin, and a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition.
Police also recovered a BlackBerry that was used to send texts to customers, drug paraphernalia and packaging material from a workstation in the apartment, as well as drug ledgers.
The defendants, who were already charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance and other charges in an earlier indictment, now face charges of conspiracy in the fourth degree and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
