Rats have infiltrated the Narcotics Evidence Room of the Houston Police Department, forcing the district attorney's office to alert attorneys on thousands of open cases that their evidence may be compromised.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed that more than 3,600 open drug-related cases are being reviewed after rats infiltrated the evidence storage at Houston Police Department (HPD) headquarters on 1200 Travis Street.
"Rodents, bugs, fungus, all kinds of things—love drugs," Peter Stout, CEO of Houston Forensic Science Center explained. "Think about it, they're drug-addicted rats, they're tough to deal with."
So far, only one open case has been confirmed as having its drug evidence compromised.
"It was a very large drug case involving cocaine, marijuana, and PCP and the rodents got into one envelope of psychedelic mushrooms and that packaging was eaten into," DA General Counsel Joshua Reiss said.
City officials suggest the issue may be more widespread. Reiss emphasized that overcrowded evidence rooms are a national issue, not unique to Houston. HPD Chief Noe Diaz noted the long-term retention of materials like notes from a 1947 homicide.
"We've got 400,000 pounds of marijuana in storage that the rats are the only ones enjoying," Mayor John Whitmire said, weighing in on ongoing storage issue.
"I really don't think this is going to compromise any convictions, but it is important for the defense to know about," Reiss clarified.
In response, the DA's office has authorized HPD and other agencies to destroy drug evidence from cases cleared before 2015 to alleviate storage issues.
Investigations into how this incident might impact pending prosecutions are ongoing.
Originally published on Latin Times
