‘Meth Gators’ And ‘Hyped Up’ Ducks: Don’t Flush Drugs, Police Say

LORETTO, TN — Hand it to a Tennessee police department for knowing how to grab people’s attention like a fierce alligator after a muskrat. If people don’t stop flushing methamphetamine and other drugs down their toilets, they run the risk of creating “meth gators.”

Now, Loretto, Tennessee, located about 100 miles outside of Nashville, isn’t known for alligators. But water from nearby Shoal Creek dumps into the Tennessee River in northern Alabama, and ‘Bama does have gators. Just imagine one high on meth, which causes people to push their bodies to unhealthy levels and spiral into bizarre, erratic behavior.

What Loretto does have are ducks, geese and other waterfowl that frequent sewage treatment ponds.

“We shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do,” the police department wrote in a Facebook post that noted Alabama has had its share of “methed-up animals the past few weeks without our help.”

“Please don’t flush your drugs, m’kay,” the post read. “When you send something down the sewer pipe it ends up in our retention ponds for processing before it is sent down stream. 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 police department’s whimsical social media post draws attention to a very real problem. Drugs, whether illicit or pharmaceutical, can pollute rivers, lakes and streams, exposing both humans and aquatic wildlife to dangerous chemicals.

Loretto police and Lawrence County deputies served a search warrant and caught the suspect trying to flush methamphetamine and paraphernalia down his toilet, according to the post. Police said the suspect's attempt to destroy evidence was unsuccessful and he was arrested. Authorities seized 12 grams of methamphetamine, 24 fluid ounces of liquid meth and several items of paraphernalia.

The police department issued an invitation that users of illegal drugs may be reluctant to accept: “So, if you need to dispose of your drugs just give us a call and we will make sure they are disposed of in the proper way.”

The offer also includes unwanted prescription drugs, police added in an edit to the post.