Drug-addicted rats wreak havoc on Texas police evidence
Drug-addicted rats are destroying evidence in warehouses, which is a serious problem for the Texas police. Even exterminators are struggling to deal with the rodent infestation.
Houston is storing 1.2 million pieces of evidence, including 400,000 pounds of marijuana, which attracts rodents, reported the American news agency UPI (United Press International), citing Mayor John Whitmire. He announced a plan to address the situation, including getting rid of the drugs stored for over a decade in the Texas police warehouses.
Whitmire at a press conference stated that they are still holding onto unnecessary evidence that will no longer affect any verdicts.
Drug-addicted rats eat police evidence
"They're drug-addicted rats. They're tough to deal with," said Peter Stout, head of the city's Criminalistics Center. He emphasized that rats are also destroying other physical evidence, not just marijuana. The police called in extermination specialists, but they were unable to get rid of the rodents.
The situation escalated to the point where the starving and drug-addicted rats disrupted at least one ongoing case. The rodents got into a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms and ate them all.
Houston is not the only city facing this problem. Last spring, New Orleans police also complained about rats destroying evidence.
"The rats are eating our marijuana. They're all high," explained Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick during a meeting of the city's justice committee.