FIRST-TIME BLACK COCAINE FOUND IN LAFAYETTE

LAFAYETTE - Three kilos of black cocaine, used by Colombian traffickers to
evade detection from drug-sniffing dogs, has been found in Lafayette, a
sheriff's official said Wednesday.

The cocaine has a street value of $300,000, Lt. Craig Stansbury of the
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department said Wednesday.

Lafayette Parish Metro Narcotics agents found two men in possession of the
black cocaine in their luggage Wednesday near the intersection of Johnston
Street and Evangeline Thruway.

Sheriff officials said this is the first time black cocaine has been found
in Lafayette, and possibly the state. Stansbury said he has been involved
with police work for 19 years, and has never heard of black cocaine being
found in Louisiana. Other people in the sheriff's department who have been
in law enforcement longer also have never seen black cocaine, he said.

Stansbury said the cocaine is mixed with chemicals, which results in the
drug having a black powder appearance. He said the cocaine is not sold in a
black form. The drug is extracted from the chemicals by using a solvent
such as acetone or ether.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency has sent information about black
cocaine to local law enforcement agencies, Stansbury said.

"Colombia traffickers are the ones who started using this process,"
Stansbury said. "We don't know of anyone else using this masking system.
It's fairly new. They're making new ways to mask it to transport it without
detection."

Drug agents arrested Rocha Hernandez, 19, Mexico, and a 16-year-old male
from Corpus Christi, Texas. They were charged with possession of cocaine
with intent to distribute, Stansbury said.

The man and teen were traveling through Louisiana when they were arrested.

"This is very big," Stansbury said. "Obviously, the substance made it unique."