After respected homicide detective Reinaldo Casas tested positive for cocaine on a random drug test in 2013, he insisted that the drug must have been absorbed into his bloodstream through an erection-enhancing cream he had applied to his genitals. As unlikely as it sounds, that crazy defense worked.

An arbitrator this week ordered that Casas be allowed to return to work. The detective was fired last year after the positive drug test, and he's now free to return to his job with the police department, where he will be reinstated with complete back pay.

Apparently the cocaine wound up in his bloodstream because that erection-inducing cream that he applied to his crotch contained it.

According to the testimony in the case, Casas has a problem with erectile dysfunction and was offered a remedy from some "old Cuban guy," who offered him some sex-enhancement cream to apply directly to his nether-region.

During the hearing, Casas claimed that a friend of his named Idilio Godinez gave him a Vaseline-like substance and told him it would help with his erection issues.

Godinez also testified, saying that he didn’t know what the cream contained cocaine -- but did say that it had been given to him as a "thank you" from some "old Cuban guy." He didn't specify exactly what the thank you was for, though. Neither man knew it contained cocaine -- or exactly what it contained, for that matter. They just knew it worked.

And it turns out that the cream did in fact test positive for cocaine. However, the Miami Beach Chief of Police, Ray Martinez “directly testified” that Casas was terminated because he “willingly and knowingly ingested cocaine, and this is not acceptable,” according to the arbitrator’s report.

The arbitrator disagreed with the termination on those grounds, stating that Casas did not in fact know that the cream contained cocaine.

“There is no evidence in the record to show that [Casas] was aware the cream contained a controlled substance,” according to the arbitrator’s report, which was released Thursday.

By law, Miami Beach police must comply with the ruling.