A large quantity of cannabis that was confiscated from drug dealers and kept in police facilities in northern India is allegedly being eaten by rats.
After learning that the local police in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, were unable to provide over 200 kilograms of cannabis that was meant to be used as evidence in a recent case, the judge remarked, “Rats are small animals, and they aren’t terrified of the police.”
According to court records, the police were ordered to present 386 kilos of marijuana; however, the prosecution warned the court that the rat infestation would affect up to 700 kilograms of marijuana held at several stations around Mathura.
And, according to reports, this wasn’t the first time the rats had attacked. The Shergarh and Highway Police Station in Mathura, which had been the storage location for more than 500 kilograms of cannabis that had been seized in various cases, was cited by the judge hearing the case as having been destroyed by rodents.
The court then established rules for the police to sell the marijuana at an auction or otherwise dispose of it.
“There’s a rat menace in almost all police stations. Hence, necessary arrangements need to be made to safeguard the cannabis that’s been confiscated,” the court document said.
Accounts of the precise sequence of events that happened after the rats allegedly consumed the cannabis, however, are a little vague.
After the trial, Mathura City Police Superintendent Martand Prakash Singh told CNN that rain and flooding, not rats, had destroyed the marijuana.
“The (report provided to the court) made no mention of rats… The only thing the cops said was that the rain and flooding had destroyed the cannabis they had collected.
If the rats are indeed guilty as charged, they may be relaxing right now. The primary euphoric component of marijuana, according to a 2016 University of British Columbia study, made lab rats lazy.
29 rats were trained to participate in an experiment where they had to decide between a simple or tough job in order to receive goodies.
Normally, the rats would select the more difficult but rewarding job, but after receiving marijuana, the identical rodents selected the simpler task.
