Drug Suspects Released But Simi Hopes to Keep $2.5 Million in Evidence

Prosecutors have declined to file charges against three people arrested in connection with a record $2.5 million seizure of suspected drug money by Simi Valley police, but authorities predicted Monday that the department would still be able to keep the cash.

Ventura County Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. said there was not enough evidence to file drug transportation and conspiracy charges against three Colombians arrested May 27 in Simi Valley and Chatsworth. No drugs were seen or seized during a two-week investigation prior to the arrests, he said.

The suspects--Marta Urrego, 36, of Chatsworth and Floriberto Urrego, 48, and his wife, Marina Urrego, 36, of Simi Valley--were freed from Ventura County Jail on Saturday, officials said.

But O’Neill said he believed that investigators had gathered enough evidence to prove that the cash seized from the suspects came from drug transactions and therefore could be forfeited by the Urregos to the Simi Valley Police Department and any agencies that assisted in the arrests.

“Essentially, we had evidence of only a slice of this operation, meaning the transportation of this money,” O’Neill said. “We are unable to prove an entire drug transaction took place.”

O’Neill said that because he thought there was not proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the drug conspiracy, he declined to file criminal charges against the three Colombians. However, he said, proving that the money came from drug sales is a civil matter that requires a lesser degree of proof called a “preponderance of evidence,” or a majority of evidence in favor of guilt.

Under those guidelines, “we think we clearly have adequate grounds to proceed,” he said. The cash forfeiture case could take 60 to 90 days before it is decided, O’Neill said.

Police seized $1.4 million and arrested the Urregos after officers watched the money, contained in three suitcases, being loaded into a car in Simi Valley and delivered to a home in Chatsworth, authorities said. Over the next two days, more than $1 million was seized from the suspects’ homes and safety deposit boxes. A house and three cars also were confiscated. A fourth person was taken into custody with the Urregos but later was released.

Simi Valley police said the cash seizure was the largest in the city’s history, and investigators said the Urregos were believed to be part of a Latin American cocaine cartel. The Urregos, who could not be reached for comment, remain suspects in an ongoing investigation, O’Neill said.

“It is definite that we don’t have the evidence at this time” for a criminal prosecution, O’Neill said. “The investigation is continuing and there is some chance that could change.”

O’Neill refused to fault the police investigation for the lack of evidence in the criminal case. He said it was likely that the suspects had sold a shipment of cocaine before detectives began to investigate them. He declined to say what initiated the investigation.

“It appears the officers could not have handled it any better,” O’Neill said.