Eight police officers in Argentina have been fired after claiming mice ate missing cannabis.

Six thousand kilograms of cannabis was stored, but only 5,460 kilograms was found during an inspection.

Scientists have cast doubt on the officers' claim, saying mice wouldn't mistake the drug for food.

Eight police officers in Argentina 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, 60 kilometers away from Buenos Aires.

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

The former police 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."

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," a representative for the judge said.

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