Pa. judge signs order to kill bugs on drugs

ERIE, Pa. -- 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.

The drug 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 storage room of the bugs.

Three men are still awaiting trial on charges they possessed the khat.