Heroin and cocaine were smuggled in altered BMWs. South Gate ring leader pleads guilty

A South Gate man pleaded guilty Friday, May 10 to leading a drug trafficking ring that imported narcotics from Mexico and used modified BMWs with hidden compartments to distribute the drugs throughout the country.

Prosecutors said Joel Antonio Villegas, 35, was the orchestrator of the trafficking ring, and would pick up the drugs and arrange sales to customers or co-conspirators. He would order conspirators to purchase cars, including BMWs, and install hidden trap compartments in them to...