A test devised to monitor the true extent of drug taking in Italy has shown far more people are taking cocaine than claimed by official figures. A team of scientists were stunned by their findings when they took reading for the concentration of a cocaine by-product in the River Po. The river was found to be carrying the equivalent of some 4kg of cocaine every day. The chemical tested for was benzolecgonine (BE), which is found in the urine of cocaine users and made its way into the Po via the sewer system.