A police force in a small Alabama town uncovered illegal aliens trafficking a large amount of cocaine after an officer stopped their car for a minor violation.
Calera Police Chief David Hyche said a patrol officer stopped a vehicle traveling through the town last week for not having a tag. During the stop, Hyche said “probable cause for a search was evident,” which ultimately led to the discovery of 46 pounds of cocaine.
He said the monetary value of the drugs will be determined after Homeland Security Investigations is done examining what was seized.
The driver and the passenger, both men who are from Colombia and in the U.S. illegally, were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine. Hyche said one of the men is wanted in Atlanta for drug trafficking and failure to appear.
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“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 also said the department is working with federal agencies who are pursuing charges against the men for drugs and immigration violations.
Police believe the men were traveling from California to Miami, and took an unusual route to avoid the typical drug interdiction areas.
“If they chose I-65 to avoid heavy drug interdiction areas, it didn’t work out for them,” Hyche said.
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Though traffic stops for minor violations have become unpopular in recent years, Hyche advocated for them, describing instances where minor traffic violations led to the rescue of two children in danger.
“Many departments around the U.S. have ceased making stops for minor traffic violations. 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,” Hyche said. “We in law enforcement don’t make laws, we enforce them.”
The police chief also said criminal activity is encouraged by “weak and passive law enforcement.”
Hyche also compared today’s presence of drugs to when he began his law enforcement career decades ago, stating that drugs like cocaine and heroin are now cheap and easy to find because they’re pouring across the border.
“If we control the borders, the dope would be expensive,” Hyche said. “The solution has to be at the border. It can’t be here.”
Shelby County District Attorney Matt Casey thanked the police department “for their great work protecting our community” and said the two men are being retained on $10 million bond.
The police chief said he believes this bust is the largest in Shelby County history.
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