South Gate 'Trap Car' Kingpin 'Junior' Admits to Running Multistate Drug Ring from Mexico
A South Gate man nicknamed "Junior" has copped to being the big wheel of a drug ring that used tricked-out BMWs to smuggle narcotics across the States, straight from the clutches of Mexican suppliers. Joel Antonio Villegas, 35, pled guilty to a federal charge of conspiring to peddle serious amounts of controlled substances, which includes the likes of cocaine, heroin, and more. His operation, slick as it was with modified 'trap cars' to transport the goods, now has him facing a possible life sentence.
The guilty plea unfolds a tale of a trafficking trail from November 2017 to September 2019. The man at the helm, Villegas, orchestrated the importation and distribution of hefty quantities of drugs. According to the official statement from the Department of Justice, Villegas handled the sourcing from Mexico and delegated tasks among his crew. They acquired regular-looking cars, turned them into trap cars complete with secret compartments, for ferrying both drugs and dirty money.
On the fateful day of the bust, law enforcement officers didn't just knock on Villegas' door; they brought it all crashing down. In a desperate attempt to slam the brakes on justice, Villegas torched incriminating paper journals and busted several cellphones before the authorities reeled him in. As stated in his plea, he admitted to hampering the investigation by destroying evidence, which included drug ledgers crucial to the feds' case against him.
But it wasn't just papers and phones that went up in smoke. Agents also confiscated firearms, over $127,000 in case, and bling bought with drug money, including Rolex watches and a golden necklace, evident of the lucrative empire Villegas ran. An additional raid at a stash house in Downey laid bare a stash including heroin, pot, and hashish oil, alongside scales and pill press machines – the nuts and bolts of a drug kingpin's domain.
Details tallied up reveal at least 8.6 pounds of heroin, 114.6 pounds of cocaine, 55.1 pounds of marijuana, and hashish oil among the trafficked goods. U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. has slated August 30 for Villegas' sentencing, where the once drug lord may receive a life sentence. This operation, a snag in the vast drug trafficking web, was spearheaded by the FBI, DEA, IRS-CI, alongside local and state law enforcement with the backing of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. The case is prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle W. Kahan, Jena A. MacCabe, and A. Carley Palmer.
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