Pennsylvania ? These weren’t just bugs. These were bugs on drugs.

Tiny drain flies infested 70 pounds of seized khat – an illegal, leafy drug – being held as evidence by Erie police, and they tried to infest the rest of the evidence room.

“We had no idea this stuff could carry bugs,” said police Lt. Mike Nolan. “It’s a relatively new drug around here, so it’s a learning process for all of us.”

The drug can be chewed or smoked and is common in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, but relatively uncommon in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Even though the trial hadn’t started, an Erie County judge agreed to allow the drug to be burned by police, and an exterminator was brought in to rid the storage room of the bugs.

Three men are still awaiting trial on charges they possessed the khat, seized by police in March. Nolan said the case against them would go on.

“It’s a lesson learned,” Nolan said. “I don’t think we’ll keep khat in the evidence locker anymore.”