A group of Sharks have reportedly tested positive for cocaine off the coast of Brazil, scientists say.
At least 13 Brazilian sharp-sharks from the shores near Rio de Janeiro, were found with high levels of cocaine in their muscles and livers following tests by Marine Biologists, BBC reports.
According to reports, the concentration of the narcotics was at least 100 times higher than previously reported for other aquatic creatures.
Experts theorise that cocaine is making its way into the waters via illegal labs where the drug is manufactured.
It is also believed that drugs that are lost or dumped by traffickers at sea could also be a factor, albeit minor for the cocaine’s presence researchers say, as per the Washington Post.
Sara Novais, a marine eco-toxicologist at the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre of the Polytechnic University of Leiria, told Science magazine that the findings are “very important and potentially worrying”.
All females in the study were pregnant, but the consequences of cocaine exposure for the foetuses remain unknown, experts added.