Local Meat Market Used as a Base of Drug Operations

A criminal complaint was unsealed this morning in Brooklyn federal court charging 26 defendants with conspiring to distribute large quantities of cocaine from locations in the Greenpoint and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn.¹ The defendants were arrested late yesterday and earlier today, as law enforcement officers executed arrest warrants in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Manhattan, and Pennsylvania. Search warrants were also executed at several residences in Brooklyn.

The defendants’ initial appearances are scheduled to be held this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.

The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Mark J. Mershon, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Division, and Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.

As detailed in the complaint, the charges are the result of a year-long investigation conducted by the FBI-NYPD Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force. During the investigation, law enforcement officers used various investigative techniques, including making controlled purchases of cocaine and monitoring thousands of telephone calls pursuant to court-authorized wiretaps on several different telephones.

The investigation revealed that defendants ANDRZEJ FILIPKOWSKI, JAMES MURPHY, and WILLIAM MURPHY principally used the Sikorski Meat Market in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as a base of operations for their drug distribution, and surveillance conducted by law enforcement captured several of the defendants frequenting the market. In one drug-related conversation, FILIPKOWSKI, then an employee at the Sikorski Meat Market, used coded language to refer to the cocaine – which was more than 80 % pure – as “hot kielbasa.” The investigation further revealed that defendant ROLANDO VASQUEZ, a limousine driver licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, used his limousine to deliver quantities of cocaine to the ring. VASQUEZ’s co-defendants then allegedly distributed the cocaine to buyers located throughout the New York metropolitan area between September 2007 and the present.

“This case began with a single report that cocaine was being stored at a neighborhood meat market in Greenpoint,” stated United States Attorney Campbell. “Through diligent investigation, we and our law enforcement partners were able to identify and subsequently dismantle a wide-ranging cocaine distribution ring operating throughout our city. The defendants will now be held to answer for their criminal activity.” Mr. Campbell thanked the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission for its assistance in the investigation.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Mershon stated, “This investigation clearly reflects that today’s criminal enterprises have diverse backgrounds and will cross multi-ethnic lines to conduct criminal activity.”

NYPD Commissioner Kelly stated, “The ‘kielbasa’ was really cocaine, and thanks to outstanding police work it’s no longer available at the meat market. I want to commend members of the NYPD’s Organized Crime Investigation Division and our FBI partners for shutting down an important distribution point for unusually pure cocaine.”

If convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine, the defendants each face a minimum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life in prison, a life term of supervised release, and a $4,000,000 fine.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cristina M. Posa, Andrew E. Goldsmith, and Stephen Frank.

The Defendants:

ALEXANDER ALBAYERO
Age: 33

PEDRO AVILES
Alias: “Poncho” and “Pocho”
Age:

ROQUE CABA
Age:

WILFRIDO CARABALLO
Age: 27

SLAWOMIR CHROSTOWSKI
Alias: “Suave”
Age: 43

MARTIN DONATO
Age: 40

EUGENE FERRIS
Age: 48

ANDRZEJ FILIPKOWSKI
Alias: “Andy”
Age: 40

ROBERTO GARCIA
Alias: “Blanco”
Age: 44

RICHARD GLECKLER
Age: 42

JOHN GUARNERI
Age: 31

ALBERTO HERNANDEZ
Age: 27

JOSE HERNANDEZ
Age: 40

WILLIAM KING
Alias: “Woody”
Age: 48

JAMES LOWNEY
Alias: “Jimbo”
Age: 73

JAMES MURPHY
Age: 50

WILLIAM MURPHY
Age: 37

JOSE ROBLES
Alias: “Pepe” and “Pepin”
Age: 42

CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Alias: “Charlie”
Age:

PEDRO RUIZ
Alias: “Pedrito”
Age: 48

LUIS ALBERTO SERRANO
Age:

EDGAR TAVERAS
Age: 41

DARIO VASQUEZ
Age: 44

ROLANDO VASQUEZ
Alias: “Orlando Vasquez”
Age: 44

ANDREAS WASACZ
Alias: “Andre”
Age: 43

FNU LNU

 

 

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¹ The charges contained in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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