Bell Gardens police now say white powder found in a vending machine toy wasn’t cocaine.

A boy bought the small balloon toy from a 25-cent machine on Monday. As he played with it, the balloon ruptured and white powder came out.

Police tested the powder and determined it was cocaine.

But investigators on Wednesday said that result was a “false positive” and the powder may have been talcum or baking soda.


The boy didn’t ingest any of the powder.

Seventeen other balloon toys were found in the machine.