A Tennessee police department asked residents not to flush drugs down the toilet for fear of creating “meth gators,” reports CNN.
The Loretto Police department posted the warning on Facebook Saturday after a man attempted to flush methamphetamine and related paraphernalia down the toilet as they searched a home in the town of about 2,000 people located 100 miles south of Nashville.
“Folks…please don’t flush your drugs m’kay… Now our sewer guys take great pride in releasing water that is cleaner than what is in the creek, but they are not really prepared for meth,” the statement reads.
Police said that flushed items end up in retention ponds, where wildlife often resides.
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“Ducks, Geese, and other fowl frequent our treatment ponds and we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do,” it says.
Police warned that the substance could travel, and that there’s a danger of creating “meth gators” in Shoal Creek and the Tennessee River as far as northern Alabama.
“They’ve had enough methed up animals the past few weeks without our help,” police said.
The police department urged residents to drop off any drugs needing disposal at a designated disposal counter at city hall.
Write to Amy Gunia at [email protected].