Joseph Muniz pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he conspired to possess and distribute the drug. The plea came as closing arguments in his trial were about to get under way.
The 59-year-old Perth Amboy resident admitted retrieving packages of heroin from Colombia that had been hidden in passenger seat life jacket compartments and delivering them to a co-conspirator.
Federal prosecutors say the international narcotics trafficking ring had ties to El Salvador and Colombia.
It was not immediately known when Muniz will be sentenced.