{"id":39403,"date":"2026-06-12T22:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/39403\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T22:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:11:08","slug":"2-colombian-men-sentenced-to-nearly-5-years-prison-for-cocaine-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/39403\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Colombian men sentenced to nearly 5 years prison for cocaine trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wbrc.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">WBRC<\/a>) &#8211; Two men from Colombia have been sentenced for trafficking cocaine, according to U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">A federal judge sentenced 26-year-old Johan Leandro Zapata-Valencia and 26-year-old Christian Yesid Lugo-Beltran to 57 months in prison. Both of them pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"26-year-old Christian Yesid Lugo-Beltran (left) and 26-year-old Johan Leandro Zapata-Valencia...\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MO3NGSUK4JEHVLLAGKUYGAGYVY.jpg\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>26-year-old Christian Yesid Lugo-Beltran (left) and 26-year-old Johan Leandro Zapata-Valencia (right)(Shelby and Etowah county jails)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">\u201cThis case represents the best of local law enforcement. The officers saw something, followed up, and were ultimately able to get 21 kilograms of cocaine off our interstates,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Phil Williams. \u201cIllegal aliens have no place in this country, especially when trafficking major quantities of narcotics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">According to court documents, an officer with the Calera Police Department was on patrol when he noticed suspicious behavior by the two men at a gas station in the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">Police said after noticing the patrol car, the two left the gas station without pumping gas. The officer on patrol continued to observe the men as they drove to another gas station across the street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">Another officer on Interstate 65 later conducted a traffic stop on the car for an inoperable tag light. When the officer asked for identification, neither of the men had a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">During a probable cause search of the vehicle, officers discovered a suitcase in the trunk hidden under a blanket. Inside, they found 21 bricks of cocaine.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Cocaine found by Calera Police during traffic stop\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/VR4I5AMFHNGEPJTUJWLEZS5Y4Q.jpg\" width=\"980\" height=\"577\" \/>Cocaine found by Calera Police during traffic stop(Calera Police Department)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">\u201cTwenty-one kilograms of cocaine is not just a number\u2014it represents a significant threat to the safety and well-being of our communities,\u201d said Steven N. Schrank, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama. \u201cThis case demonstrates HSI\u2019s unwavering commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to keep dangerous drugs and the violence they fuel off our streets. We will continue to relentlessly pursue those who seek to profit from trafficking poison into our neighborhoods and hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text text-start\">Get news alerts in the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wbrc-fox6-news\/id449660326\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple App Store<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.raycom.wbrc&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Play Store<\/a> or subscribe to our email newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbrc.com\/newsletter\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WBRC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) &#8211; Two men from Colombia have been sentenced for trafficking cocaine, according to U.S. Attorney&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3976,18507,18509,780,18511,18501,18503,18502,18512,18508,18505,273,4150,18510,18506,95,18504],"class_list":["post-39403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-valencia","tag-calera","tag-calera-police","tag-christian-yesid-lugo-beltran","tag-cocaine","tag-cocaine-possession","tag-federal-charges","tag-federal-cocaine-charges","tag-federal-drug-charges","tag-intent-to-distribute-cocaine","tag-johan-leandro-zapata-valencia","tag-myfoxal","tag-news","tag-prison","tag-prison-time","tag-shelby-county","tag-valencia","tag-wbrc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}