Test results have come back from the lab on the mysterious white powder found inside 2,600 small packets seized during a traffic stop last month near Gorman, initially believed to be cocaine.
The good news — at least for the man arrested in connection with the seizure — is that the powder is not cocaine, or any other illegal drug for that matter.
“The contents were tested for controlled substances,” Lt. Ignacio Somoano, who leads the Detective Division of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, said Tuesday. “We determined it was not a controlled substance.”.
Asked what the white powder was, Somoano explained that the “normal protocol” of such testing is confined to determining if its a known narcotic, as opposed to determining what it is.
“We don’t go any further with the testing once controlled substances are not detected,” he said.
News of the innocuous results marks a disappointing end to what SCV Sheriff’s officials saw initially as a significant seizure, removing drugs from the streets of Santa Clarita.
The optimism over such a prospect began in the early hours of June 21, after deputies stopped a motorist near Gorman.
A bindle is thumbnail-sized freezer bag typically used to contain narcotics in powder form.
Within the week, however, detectives began taking a second look at tiny seized packets.
The man initially arrested on suspicion the packets contained cocaine was released on bond while the powder was being tested. He was not ultimately charged with any crime.
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