Woonsocket Man Admits to Trafficking Heroin and Cocaine

A 55-year-old Woonsocket man who was caught with three kilos of cocaine stashed inside a sophisticated hydraulically-controlled hidden compartment in his car in April has pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges.

Miguel Colon also pleaded guilty to carrying a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities and will be sentenced on Jan. 4 by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith, according to the U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha.

Colon was arrested after federal, state and local police caught him after he returned to New England from Texas and Florida with the cocaine.

A search warrant revealed 900 more grams were stashed in self-storage units he rented, according to court records.

Woonsocket and Providence police both independently discovered that Colon was leaving the state about once a month to get large amounts of cocaine and heroin that was then distributed here in Rhode Island.

Police learned that Colon was on his last drug run in Texas and Florida and were waiting for him when he drove back into Rhode Island in the early morning hours of April 27.

Police set up posts along Route 95 and saw him drive by at around 4 a.m. near the Connecticut border. He was followed until he stopped at a North Attleboro, Mass., hotel and was surrounded.

Police found a pound of marijuana and a loaded semi-automatic firearm inside the hidden compartment after his car was towed to North Attleboro police headquarters and searched.

The keys to the self-storage units in Woonsocket were also found in the car.

At his house, police found .380 caliber live ammunition and drug ledgers with names of drug buyers that police said were recognizable to several departments as drug dealers.

Police also found several small marijuana seedlings at Colon’s apartment.

Colon has been held in federal custody since his arrest.