2 Plead Guilty to Drug Charges in ‘No Dope’ Case

Two alleged members of a major San Fernando Valley cocaine ring have pleaded guilty to narcotics charges in what authorities said Tuesday was Los Angeles County’s first “no dope” drug conspiracy case, in which evidence used against the men did not include drugs.

“The circumstantial evidence was there, whether or not there was any dope,” said Andy Reynolds, spokesman for the district attorney’s office. “We think it’s an absolute first. We have been able to get them on a conspiracy to transport cocaine without actually having the cocaine.”

As part of a plea-bargain agreement, Arturo J. Aguilera, 35, of Tarzana and Galo P. Iturralde, 28, of Granada Hills pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to transport cocaine, Reynolds said.

A third alleged member of the ring, Haripal Singh Sagoo, 24, of Granada Hills, pleaded guilty to a felony money-laundering charge, he said.

Narcotics Transaction

Burbank police and federal agents linked the three men to a narcotics transaction involving a 332-pound shipment of cocaine valued at $2 million, authorities said.

But when eight suspects were arrested in June, 1988, after a 3-month investigation, only a trace of the drug was found inside shipping boxes at a Tarzana house and on cash in a Tarzana storage locker.

During the arrests, police seized about $1.7 million in cash, two cars, several furs and pieces of jewelry and ledgers documenting the ring’s drug transactions.

The trace of cocaine residue was too small to be used as evidence in court, officials said. Because no drugs were seized and officers never saw any drugs during the investigation, prosecutors declined to file charges against four suspects. They later dropped a drug conspiracy charge filed against a fifth suspect.

Authorities said the “no dope” case against Aguilera, Iturralde and Sagoo was largely based on circumstantial evidence--transaction ledgers, statements from informants and investigators’ surveillance of the ring, which included watching members unload boxes in which cocaine residue was later found.

Similar Prosecutions

Authorities said similar prosecutions have been successful in other jurisdictions in California. Local law enforcement officers were pleased Tuesday, even with the plea bargains.

“We are delighted,” said Burbank Police Capt. David Newsham, who supervised the investigation. “We are particularly happy with the message this sends. These people were big-time dope dealers, and the message is we don’t have to find their drugs to seize their assets and . . . put them in jail.”

Newsham said that under federal forfeiture laws his department stands to receive more than half of the $1.7 million in cash and other seized property.

Investigators have not determined what happened to the cocaine believed to have been in the shipping boxes, Newsham said. Investigators raided the suspects’ homes and offices two days after watching the boxes being unloaded from a truck. But by then the drugs were gone.

The three men are scheduled to be sentenced June 12. They are being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of bail ranging from $2 million to $5 million. Reynolds said Aguilera and Iturralde face up to three years in prison under the plea agreement.