Green’s Dictionary of Slang

tapioca adj.²

(US) asleep, exhausted.

1955

P. Rabe Benny Muscles In (2004) 238: ‘Where’s Pat?’ [...] ‘Asleep. Tapioca.’.

In phrases

give someone tapioca (v.)

to defeat physically, to beat up.

1895

Mirror of Life 27 Apr. 2/2: [T]hey rushed in their thousands to [...] see the rival Brums give each other ‘toko,’ ‘tapioca,’ or ‘beans,’" as the case may be.