Police are concerned with the large number of drugs found following an operation at the Psyfari festival over the weekend at Glen Alice, near Mudge, NSW Police saye
A police operation was launched from Thursday 25 August 2016 to Monday 29 August 2016 targeting drug use and traffic offences.
This operation was formed in response to a fatal crash in 2015, when three young men died shortly after they left the festival.
The five-day operation involved police from Mudgee Local Area Command, assisted by General Duties officers from across the Western Region, as well as the Dog Unit, Operations Support Group (OSG), and Traffic and Highway Patrol Command (THWPC).
As a result of the drug dog operation, 78 prohibited drugs detections were made including four which were deemed to be of a suppliable quantity. The type of drug seized included ICE, magic mushrooms, cannabis, MDMA and cocaine.
Police conducted more than 2500 random breath tests (RBT) and 250 random drug tests (RDT).
As a result, 25 people tested positive for driving with drug present in their system.
Police issued 11 traffic charges, 50 penalty notices and 28 speeding tickets.
Mudgee Local Area Commander, Superintendent Anthony Joice said police are staggered by the large amount of drug seizures outside this event which had been promoted by organisers as being "family friendly".
"We cannot stress enough how dangerous these substances are, not only are they illegal but they are incredibly harmful and can have fatal consequences on our roads."
"These figures again highlight the New South Wales Police Force’s commitment to public safety by stopping a large volume of dangerous drugs from entering the event."
"Fortunately, there were no fatalities or serious incidents reports to police from this event. The vast majority of festival goers told police how much they appreciated the police efforts in making the festival safer," said Superintendent Joice.
