A man spent three weeks in jail after police mistook talcum powder for cocaine

While he was behind bars, his belongings were stolen.

An Argentine man was wrongfully imprisoned after police mistook 18 containers of talcum powder for cocaine, and it took three weeks to determine the true nature of the substance.

Oddity Central writes about it.

In early October, Maximiliano Acosta boarded a bus in the city of Mendoza, bound for the country's capital, Buenos Aires. Shortly after, the bus was stopped in La Paz for a team of gendarmes to carry out a routine check.

After checking the passengers' luggage, they found 18 containers of talcum powder in Acosta's possession and questioned him about it. Despite the man's explanation that the containers actually contained talc for personal use, the gendarmes arrested him on suspicion of drug possession. Post-arrest tests allegedly showed that 18 containers were filled with cocaine, and Maximiliano was thrown behind bars, even…