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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

BIRMINGHAM – Two “illegal” immigrants from Colombia have been indicted by a federal grand jury after allegedly being caught trafficking 21 kilograms of Cocaine in Calera.

U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Steven N. Schrank announced the indictments in a press release on Monday, March 3.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Alabama announced the indictment of Cristan Yesid Lugo-Beltran, age 24, and Johan Leandro Zapata-Valencia, age 23, with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.

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 on Interstate 65 southbound. After approaching the vehicle, the officer detected marijuana and utilized probable cause to search the vehicle and located 21 kilograms, or approximately 46 pounds, of cocaine within a compartment. The driver and passenger of the vehicle were subsequently arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

Upon arrest, the two suspects made their country of origin and legal status known to the two responding officers. According to the Calera Police Department, both suspects are Colombian citizens and entered “in this country illegally.” One of the suspects was wanted in Atlanta, Georgia for drug trafficking and failure to appear.

Lugo-Beltran, 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.

Zapata-Valencia, of San Jose, was arrested by the Calera Police Department for allegedly trafficking cocaine in the amount of 21 kilograms on Feb. 6 at approximately 9:11 p.m. 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,” Calera Chief of Police David Hyche said after the arrest. “The choices these two men made led to this outcome.”

HSI investigated the case, along with the Calera Police Department and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office provided assistance and assistant U.S. attorneys Brittany T. Byrd and Olivia C. Brame are prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Alabama highlighted that the indictment contains only charges and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.