ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Eight Argentinian police officers have been fired after blaming mice for the disappearance of half a ton of cannabis from a police warehouse.

They claimed rodents had eaten the stockpile after it was discovered missing during an inspection at the warehouse for impounded drugs in Pilar, 60km away from Buenos Aires.

Around 6,000kg of cannabis had been stored there for four years, but only 5,460kg was found.

Former police chief commissioner Javier Specia was hauled before a judge along with three of his subordinates, but they all claimed the drugs had been “eaten by mice”.

However, scientists at Buenos Aires University cast doubt on the claim.

“Buenos Aires University experts have explained that mice wouldn't mistake the drug for food, and that if a large group of mice had eaten it, a lot of corpses would have been found in the warehouse,” said a spokesperson for the judge.

The four police officers will testify before the judge on May 4.