After a tip from police in Pasadena, Calif., Slidell police on Wednesday were able to arrest a man from Lacombe and another from California, who tried to pick up a package containing one pound of high-grade cocaine that had been mailed to a Slidell home.

Antwine A. Ducre, 23, 60230 S. 24th St. Lacombe, and Rodney Cousin, 26, Los Angeles, Calif were charged with possession with intent to distribute over 400 grams of cocaine, and principal to possession of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a park. Cousin was also chaged with possession of marijuana.

Police Chief Freddy Drennan said Pasadena police called the SPD several days ago saying they had opened a package containing the cocaine, and the package was addressed to a house on Ashville Street in Slidell. However, the names on the package did not match the names of the residents of the house.

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Slidell detectives asked the Pasadena police to send them the package. When Slidell police got the box, they decided to deliver the cocaine to the house. Police left the package at the front door and set up surveillance on the house.

Several hours later, Cousin, driving a pickup truck and Ducre, driving a Cadillac passed in front of the house in opposite directions. Drennan said that both men drove back and forth in front of the house for 45 minutes to make sure that they were not being watched.

Finally, one of the men stopped and picked up the package. As the men started to leave, undercover policemen stopped the cars and arrested Cousin and Ducre. When police opened the package, they found one-pound of cocaine stored into a plastic baby bathtub and covered with baby clothes. Drennan said the amount of cocaine had a wholesale value of $10,000 and a street value of $40,000 after it had been broken up. The brick of cocaine was inside a vacumn-packed plastic bag. It had a large raised “X” embossed on it, but Drennan did not know what the “X” stood for.

The chief said that it is not unusual to see cocaine, but the amount confiscated Wednesday was a big surprise.

“It is really unusual to see this large a quantity,” Drennan said.

He said detectives were still questioning the two suspects and Slidell and Pasadena police were trying to discover the links between the two towns. But he said it was still early in the case, and it is an ongoing investigation. He would not say how the Pasadena police knew about the shipment, but he did say the Pasadena police had opened the package and knew what it contained before sending it to Slidell.

The house was abandoned at the time of arrest. Drennan said it was under renovation after a fire had ripped through the house a week ago.

Police spokesman, Capt. Kevin Foltz said Ducre has a record with Slidell police. He has been arrested for attempted armed robbery, dealing cocaine and resisting an officer. Cousin had no record with the SPD, and Foltz did not know if Cousin had a record in California.

Both suspects are still in the Slidell City Jail, but will be transported to St. Tammany Parish Jail. If convicted, Foltz said each man could face between 15 to 30 years in prison.