By Chris Fuchs
Three men were arrested last week at a house in College Point, where authorities found more than $500,000 worth of Ecstasy, a popular drug used in nightclubs, that was shipped through the mail from Greece to Kennedy Airport, the Queens district attorney said.
The Ecstasy, which was wrapped in plastic bags and stowed in two hollowed-out dictionaries, arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport on March 26 from Greece, said District Attorney Richard Brown. The package, weighing about six pounds, was then brought to the house, at 22-11 College Point Blvd., two days later, he said. Brown said the police were waiting at the house with a search warrant when the shipment arrived.
“We believe the pills were ultimately intended for sale to young people at local nightclubs throughout the city,” the district attorney said last Thursday.
After searching the home, the police also found 101 bottles of steroids, a .9 millimeter Ruger handgun and $7,000 in cash, he said. The police arrested the three men, who the district attorney identified as John DiGenaks, 30, and George Apessos, 20, both of whom live at the College Point house, and Peter Krzeszowiac, 40, of Beverly Hills, Calif.
The men were each charged with second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the district attorney said. They face up to life in prison if convicted.
A telephone message left with Apessos was not returned by Tuesday night. Krzeszowiak’s attorney, William Nicholas, declined to comment since he said his client’s family may hire another lawyer. The lawyers for the other defendants could not be reached by press time.
According to a complaint filed by the district attorney, a postal inspector posing as a letter carrier delivered the package, which was addressed to Eleum Kapbela, on March 27 around 11 a.m. Digenakis answered the door, identifying himself as Kapbela but signing for the package with his real name, the complaint said.
About 20 minutes later, Digenakis left the house, a knapsack slung over his shoulder, and walked up to a livery cab that had pulled up in front of the house, the complaint said. Inside were 100 pills of Percocet and more than $6,200 in cash, the complaint said.
The authorities, waiting outside with a search warrant, then entered the home, where they found Krzeszowiak in the living room and Apessos in a bedroom, the complaint said. The package — two hollowed-out dictionaries containing tablets of Ecstasy bundled in 10 plastic bags — was discovered in the living room, the complaint said. The police found $900 in cash on Krzeszowiak, all in bills of $20 and less, the complaint said.
In addition, an assortment of steroids and a .9 millimeter handgun were found in a suitcase in a bedroom of the house, according to the DA’s office.
The arrests come almost two weeks after a 71-year-old man from Kew Gardens Hills was charged in Miami, Fla., with trafficking in Ecstasy tablets from Paris. The man, Ben Chitrit, was arrested at Miami International Airport on March 16 after customs officials inspected his luggage and found 36 pounds of the drug stashed in a false bottom of a suitcase, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Chitrit was charged with importing Ecstasy and intent to distribute, a spokeswoman with the office said last week. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
