2-Shop Raid Seizes Reputed Substitute for Cocaine

Los Angeles police raided two smoking paraphernalia stores in the San Fernando Valley on Thursday and seized about two pounds of a reputed cocaine substitute, a prescription anesthetic on sale in bottles labeling it “air freshener,” authorities said.

An employee of one of the stores, who sold undercover officers small quantities of the “Milky Trails” air freshener, was arrested, and police said they were investigating the illegal sale and use of the drug, tetracaine hydrochloride.

“This is the first time we’ve come across it” as a drug of abuse, said Lt. Gary Rogness, head of the Valley’s narcotics unit.

Narcotics officers searched Lion’s Lair in Canoga Park and Lion’s Lair Too in Studio City after obtaining search warrants during a one-week investigation, Rogness said. John McArthur, 20, a Lion’s Lair clerk, was arrested on suspicion of selling dangerous drugs without a prescription, a misdemeanor, Rogness said.

Paraphernalia Outlet

Rogness described the stores as drug paraphernalia outlets, known in the 1960s as “head shops.” McArthur said they are “tobacco accessory” stores.

Tetracaine hydrochloride, a white powdery substance, is commonly administered by physicians as an anesthetic to pregnant women during delivery, Rogness said.

He said the investigation began last week when a man who was arrested in Canoga Park for being under the influence of drugs told police he had been smoking Milky Trails, which he bought at Lion’s Lair in the 22000 block of Sherman Way. The man, who police said was also a cocaine user, was not identified.

Undercover detectives made two purchases of the substance from McArthur at the store, Rogness said. The substance was turned over to the department’s scientific investigation division, which identified it as tetracaine hydrochloride, he said.

Detectives checked with the federal Food and Drug Administration and learned that Tennessee authorities recently reported that tetracaine hydrochloride has been illegally sold in that state as a substitute for cocaine, Rogness said.

3 Detained

Three employees were detained while officers searched Lion’s Lair and Lion’s Lair Too, in the 11300 block of Ventura Boulevard, on Thursday, but only McArthur was arrested.

“Keep in mind it is not cocaine,” McArthur told reporters who accompanied police on the searches. He said the product was air freshener and incense.

About two pounds of tetracaine hydrochloride was found in several small plastic bottles labeled “Milky Trails, room odorizer” or “Ultra Scent.”

Rogness said the substance in the bottles was odorless and could not be used as incense or air freshener. “They are just putting labels on them” to disguise the real use of the substance, he said. “They are dispensing drugs over-the-counter.”

A price chart on the wall of a storage room at Lion’s Lair showed the price of the “incense” ranged from $34.99 for an eighth of an ounce to $1,600 for a pound, about one-third the street price of cocaine.

Rogness said his narcotics unit will continue an investigation of the manufacture and sale of the substance and submit the results to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The manufacturer of the product and the owner of the two stores could face charges of conspiring to sell prescription drugs, he said.

The owner of the stores was not identified by police and investigators had not determined who manufactures and distributes “Milky Trails” and “Ultra Scent.”