A group of alleged Brooklyn dealers had an unusual rule of not selling drugs during Shabbat – which is the Jewish Sabbath. Using an elaborate system, the group distributed a variety of drugs throughout the borough over a 14-month stretch before getting nabbed in last April.
As reported by Brooklyn News and picked up by Gothamist, the six-month sting dubbed “Operation Only After Sundown” focused on the activity of five Sheepshead Bay men who reportedly told potential customers to not expect service on Friday to Saturday nights because of Shabbat.
Eduard Sorin, Jack Zibak, Jack Zaibak, David Gerowitz, and Philip Mandel were all indicted in a conspiracy to possess and distribute heroin, oxycodone, cocaine, and other drugs earlier today (September 10). The NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Brooklyn South, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office all worked in tandem to bring down the ring.
What finally brought the drug operation to an end was a mass text sent by the men announcing a new shipment of “D.O.B.” – a type of heroin. The text, sent out on Friday, Apriil 12, 2013, read as follows: “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.”
Another text, sent on March 19, read, “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.”
Police were said to have seized around 900 glassines of heroin, 335 oxycodone pills, a small amount of cocaine, Xanax, Suboxone and Klonopin and a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition as well.
The men were charged with several counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, criminally using drug paraphernalia and criminal possession of stolen property.
Another man, Aron Dombroff, was arrested on April 20 in connection with the initial indictment but was not charged in this latest announcement made by prosecutors. Sorin was arraigned today with his co-conspirators facing arraignment hearings and additional court dates later.
Check out photos of the group’s base of operations and the haul the police made in shutting down the group on the following pages.
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Photos: Google, Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office
