Tennessee Police Warn Citizens Of 'Meth-Gators,' Then Later Clarify Comments

A Tennessee police depart is having to clarify comments it made about so-called "meth-gators."

Last week, the Loretto Police Department in Tennessee issued an unusual warning to residents. The department told people not to flush drugs, such as meth, down the toilets because alligators will eat them and it will create what they called "meth-gators."

The warning sounds completely ridiculous, but people took it seriously -- it did come directly from the police, after all.

The "meth-gators" drew so much attention that police took to Facebook over the weekend to clarify that they aren't real:

Let us be perfectly clear: the meth gator was a humorous illustration used to highlight the dangers of flushing drugs and other substances down your toilet. Alas, the meth-gator is not real. Let’s say that again: THE METH GATOR IS NOT (at this time) REAL. We’ve had to explain that to our cousins across the pond twice.

Now the department is trying to turn this joke-gone-wrong into a positive. It announced they will soon begin creating and selling "meth-gator" merchandise with all proceeds going to local charities.