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*UPDATE: The Calera Police Department held a press conference on Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. and shared further details. Read more here.

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

CALERA – Two “illegal” immigrants have been arrested by the Calera Police Department with 46 pounds of cocaine after a routine traffic stop led to probable cause for a search.

On the night of Feb. 6, a patrol officer with the Calera Police Department stopped a vehicle that was traveling through Calera without a tag light. After probable cause to search was evident, the officer searched the vehicle and located 21 kilograms, or approximately 46 pounds, of cocaine. The driver and passenger of the vehicle were subsequently arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

According to the Calera Police Department, both suspects are Colombian citizens and entered “in this country illegally.” One suspect is wanted in Atlanta, Georgia for drug trafficking and failure to appear.

“We believe the two suspects were traveling from California to south Florida,” Chief of Police David Hyche said. “If they chose I-65 to avoid heavy drug interdictions areas, it didn’t work out for them. I could not be more proud of the officers that made this stop as well as their entire shift, our dispatchers and investigators.”

According to Hyche, the recovered drugs have been transferred to homeland security. He shared that the value of the drugs could potentially be the largest seizure in Shelby County’s history.

“Many departments around the U.S. have ceased making stops for minor traffic violations,” Hyche said. “I have repeatedly spoken out against this and other instances where law enforcement leaders apologize for enforcing the law or change policy to appease critics. We in law enforcement don’t make laws, we enforce them.”

Cristian Yesid Lugo Belran, of San Jose, California, was arrested by the Calera Police Department for trafficking illegal drugs and the unlawful possession of marijuana in the second degree. According to court documents, Lugo Beltran committed the offense of trafficking cocaine on Feb. 6 at approximately 9:11 p.m. and was caught on Interstate 65 southbound near mile marker 228 with 21 kilograms of cocaine or a mixture containing cocaine. Lugo Beltran is currently in the Shelby County Jail on a$10,001,000 total bond.

Jhorman Zapata was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Feb. 7 for trafficking illegal drugs on a total bond of $10,000,000.

“We didn’t initially know where these two were from, what they had in their car or their immigration status,” Hyche said. “The choices these two men made led to this outcome.”

Hyche said that weak and passive law enforcement encourages illegal activity.

“In my five years in Calera, we have rescued two children in danger after traffic stops for minor violations and now 21 kilograms of cocaine won’t be distributed in our country due to a stop for no tag light.”

Members of the Alabama Drug Enforcement Task Force, Homeland Security, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office and United States Attorney’s Office are working with the Calera Police Department on this case.

Law enforcement is set to address the media regarding this incident during a press conference that is currently set for Feb. 10 at 1 p.m.

More information on this case will be released at Shelbycountyreporter.com as it becomes available.