A weekend traffic stop in Calera led to the seizure of 21 kilos of cocaine.
Two men, both Colombian citizens in the U.S. illegally, are being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds totaling $10 million each, according to police.
Jhorman Zapata is charged with drug trafficking. Cristian Yesid Lugo Beltran is charged with drug trafficking and unlawful possession of marijuana.
Calera police officers stopped the vehicle about 8:30 p.m. Friday because the tag light was out. The vehicle as traveling on Interstate 65, and the stop was made at a gas station just off the interstate.
Chief David Hyche said investigators believe the suspects were traveling from California to south Florida.
“If they chose I-65 to avoid heavy drug interdiction areas, it didn’t work out well for them,’’ Hyche said, applauding the work of his department in the stop.
One of the suspects, he said, is wanted in Atlanta on drug trafficking and failure to appear charges.
The DEA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office and the Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney’s Office are assisting in the investigation.
“Many departments around the U.S. have ceased making traffic 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,’’ he said, “we enforce them.”
Hyche said in his five years in Calera, officers have rescued two children during stops for minor traffic violations, and now 21 kilograms of cocaine will never make it to the illegal drug market.
“Weak and passive law enforcement encourages criminal activity,’’ he said.
