Police arrested a group of males and seized machetes, drugs and other weapons in Melbourne's CBD last night.
On the first night of the 2026 Moomba Festival, police have likely prevented serious violence by arresting multiple armed offenders near St Kilda Road.
Festival security services alerted police to a youth armed with a knife within the festival grounds about 9.15pm.
Officers from the Public Order Response Team (PORT) and local police tasked to patrol the festival tracked a group of eight males to the Southbank area about 9.25pm.
They were detained for searches under the Control of Weapons Act 1990.
It is alleged during the search, officers seized:
o Two machetes
o a meat cleaver
o a long carving knife
o flick knives
o a knuckle duster
o balaclavas and gloves
o drugs.
Two teenage boys, aged 16 and 17, were interviewed in relation to weapons offences and will be charged at a later date.
A 16-year-old boy was charged and remanded with possess a prohibited and controlled weapon.
He will appear at a children's court at a later date.
Senior Constable Darcie Sword
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