Federal narcotics officers were poised to make the biggest cocaine bust ever in Dallas, but it turned out the white powder they confiscated was for baking, not snorting.
And the elderly man who attempted to pull off the drug deal wound up in custody and in the hospital instead of being in the money, said Phil Jordan, who is in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Dallas office.It turned out that the 100 kilograms of cocaine the man was attempting to sell to DEA agents posing as drug dealers was 220 pounds of flour and sugar, Jordan said.
"We found out he wasn't selling the real thing, and he found out we were the real thing," said Jordan said.
Jordan said he expects that state charges will be filed against the man accusing him of attempting to sell substances misrepresented as drugs. It is a felony under Texas law to attempt to sell any substance represented to be illegal drugs.
Jordan said the 71-year-old man suffered an "anxiety attack" after learning the men were agents and not drug dealers and was hospitalized with chest pains.