'Drug-addicted rats' destroying evidence in Houston police lockers

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Posted on 01/24/2025 12:06:11 PM PST by Red Badger

Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Police and city officials in Houston said evidence in storage lockers is being destroyed by "drug-addicted rats."

Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference that drugs being stored in evidence lockers are attracting rats that feast on the illicit narcotics and cause damage to other evidence in the process.

"We got 400,000 pounds of marijuana in storage that the rats are the only ones enjoying," Whitmire said.

The mayor announced the start of an initiative in partnership with the Harris County District Attorney's Office to organize the 1.2 million pieces of evidence stored by the city and discard any drugs stored since before 2015.

"So much evidence is kept and stored that is no longer needed, that has no impact on the resolution of that charge, that conviction or even that innocence," Whitmire said.

Peter Stout, head of the Houston Forensic Science Center, said at the same news conference that the large amounts of narcotics evidence stored by the city is putting other, unrelated evidence in danger.

"They're edible, they're tasty, they're all kinds of things. You can't store large quantities of drugs without expecting some of these things to happen," Stout said.

He said police have hired exterminators, but the rodent problem has proven persistent.

"They're drug-addicted rats. They're tough to deal with," he said.

Officials said only one active case has been affected by the rat problem. They said rodents managed to get into a bag containing hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The problem is not limited to the city of Houston. New Orleans Police Department officials said in March 2024 that drug evidence was under assault from pests including rats and cockroaches.

"The rats eating our marijuana, they're all high," Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a meeting of the City Council's Criminal Justice Committee.

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1 posted on 01/24/2025 12:06:11 PM PST by Red Badger

To: Red Badger

2 posted on 01/24/2025 12:07:30 PM PST by OldHarbor

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3 posted on 01/24/2025 12:08:46 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)

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4 posted on 01/24/2025 12:09:01 PM PST by A Formerly Proud Canadian ( Ceterum autem censeo Justinius True-dope-us es'se delendam. sic semper tyrannis.)

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5 posted on 01/24/2025 12:09:18 PM PST by ComputerGuy

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6 posted on 01/24/2025 12:16:46 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)

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