MIAMI (AP) _ Colombian drug dealers are using a mixture of cocaine and polystyrene plastic in products that can be shipped into this country undetected, authorities said Tuesday.

The technology makes it possible to transform the cocaine into many products - toys, eyeglass frames and camera parts - and in a form undetectable by drug-sniffing dogs or routine visual or chemical tests, law enforcement officials said.

″Anything that has a mold that can be compressed under heat can come in as cocaine like this, and that’s pretty scary,″ said Lonnie Cooper, head of the Miami office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

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Last month, state and FBI investigators discovered 355 pounds of cocaine made into black electrical bushings, said FBI spokesman Paul Miller. The bushings, which are fittings used to reduce friction between parts, were stored in West Palm Beach and Miami.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents say use of the technology is unprecedented and requires a highly sophisticated, well-organized drug operation.

″This is the first time anybody had ever seen anything like that. It makes you wonder how long this was being done,″ said James Shedd, spokesman for the DEA in Miami.

Shedd said the shipment came into the United States from Colombia, but declined to give more details. The investigation is continuing, he said.

Washington FBI chemist Dean Fetterolf said the FBI is making equipment available to test suspicious plastic parts. But he acknowledged that the tests can be run only if agents are already alerted to the drug’s presence.

He said traffickers mix a portion of about 20 percent cocaine with polystyrene plastic and mold it with heat and chemicals. They later remove the cocaine by heating the composition, dissolving the plastic bonds.

Along with the cocaine-plastic bushings found during May 23 searches, investigators also confiscated chemicals used for processing cocaine, the FBI said.

Five Colombians were indicted Friday on two counts each of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

On Monday, agents arrested Jose Abelardo Pena Lopez, 42, of Miami; Jorge Ivan Durango Palacios, 31, of West Palm Beach; and Gustavo Durango Palacios, 33, address unknown.

Two men remain at large: Francisco Diaz, 37, and Libarado Osorio, 33.

The three men were being held without bond.