NSW Police have released details of a highway patrol blitz conducted in the region during and after last weekend’s Splendour in the Grass.
Over the four days on the Splendour site itself officers conducted 353 person searches and 50 vehicle searches whilst also issuing five move-on directions.
Sniffer dogs resulted in 282 people being found in possession of illegal drugs including cannabis and MDMA.
Police issued 118 cannabis cautions and 130 court attendance notices.
A 21-year-old man was searched and police allegedly located 102 MDMA tablets and 0.5 grams of MDMA powder. He was arrested and charged with supply prohibited drug.
Motorists did not escape police attention with 84 people charged for PCA (drink driving) offences.
In random breath tests conducted on the roads around the venue, just nine drivers were arrested out of a total of 1,224 tested for alcohol and 13 returning a positive result out of the 385 tested for drugs.
But there were some alarming occurrences, including two motorists who were arrested twice in the same night.
A male P-plate driver was breath-tested by police and charged with Low Range PCA before being stopped again a short time later where he was again allegedly detected over the limit.
A female driver was arrested by police for a breath analysis, which returned an alleged high-range reading. Officers patrolling stopped the woman again behind the wheel two hours later, where a subsequent breath analysis recorded another alleged high-range reading.
Police also issued 26 traffic infringement notices during the period.
Traffic and Highway Patrol’s Superintendent Stuart Smith said, ‘getting behind the wheel while under the influence is not only extremely irresponsible but against the law’.
‘The judgment and reaction times of a driver affected by drugs or alcohol can be seriously impaired and their risk of being in a crash increases,’ he added.
‘Every police car has the capacity to breath test a driver and we will continue these operations to target those taking unnecessary risks.’
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