$1.4 Million in Cash Seized; 4 Arrested

Simi Valley police seized $1.4 million in cash and arrested four people Saturday after a two-week investigation of a Latin American cocaine cartel.

The arrests began shortly after 7:30 a.m., when officers observed suspects loading cash into a vehicle, authorities said. Police said they followed it to Chatsworth, where they witnessed a financial transaction, which they would not describe in detail.

Marta Urrego, 36, a Colombian citizen who lives in Chatsworth, was arrested at the scene, said Lt. Bob Klamser. Police confiscated three suitcases containing $1.4 million in the trunk of a 1988 Oldsmobile.

Later, three other suspects were arrested at undisclosed locations in Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley.

Arrested were Floriberto Urrego, 48, a Colombian living in Simi Valley; Marina Urrego, 36, a Colombian living in Chatsworth, and Emilza Gonsolez, 35, a Guatemalan living in Simi Valley. Police said the four represented Latin American drug buyers and handled the cash transactions with sellers.

All were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to distribute and transport cocaine and launder money, Klamser said. Authorities will ask that $1 million bail be set for each of the suspects, who were to be taken to the Ventura County Jail.

The amount of money seized is the largest in the city’s history, Klamser said. The Ventura County district attorney’s office will seek to allow Simi Valley to keep the money, along with three vehicles that were seized.