Cocaine tea has been ordered off the shelves in Italy.
The coca tea from Peru has been available for sale for years but after analysis showed that it had significant levels of cocaine, Italian police said it had to be removed.
The matter came to light only this month when a bus driver from Genoa tested positive for drugs during the course of a routine test.
The 38-year-old driver, Roberto, denied using cocaine. He had worked for 10 years at the Genovese transport authority, Amt, where he had an exemplary record.
He mentioned to the company doctor that he had had a large cup of tea the previous day at an ethnic food shop in Genoa where he frequently stopped.
He said the tea made him feel more alert at the wheel.
The doctor asked to receive two tea bags which he brewed and drank. Testing himself the next day, he found a positive result for cocaine.
The Italian food authority ran tests which had the same finding.
Police said the tea, delisse alla coca, was made with small quantities of cocaine leaves and contained not insignificant amounts of the active ingredient of the drug, cocaine hydrochloride.
They were surprised to discover the tea had passed all Italian customs controls for years.
The shop owner has not been charged with any offence but police are investigating the sole Peruvian importer.
