An infestation of “drug-addicted rats” in evidence rooms will prompt the Houston Police Department (HPD) to begin destroying hundreds of thousands of pounds of unneeded narcotics evidence, officials said.

Around 400,000 pounds of marijuana sits in the department’s property room — and only the rats are enjoying it, according to Houston Mayor John Whitmire.

“The problem has been 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 Friday.

“This is a problem for property rooms everywhere in the country,” Peter Stout, president of the Houston Forensic Science Center, said during a Friday news conference. “Rodents, bugs, fungus, all kinds of things love drugs.”

The police department first learned of the rat infestation in October of last year.

“They have had professional exterminators involved, but this is difficult getting these rodents out of there,” Stout said. “I mean, think about it, they are drug-addicted rats. They’re tough to deal with.”