Police Arrest 92 Splendour Punters On Drug Charges, But 'Pleased With Majority'

New South Wales Police are largely happy with the behaviour of punters at this past weekend's Splendour In The Grass festival, issuing just under 100 court attendance notices to attendees alleged to have been carrying drugs for consumption or commercial purposes among crowds that numbered in excess of 30,000 each day of the event.

Officers from the Tweed/Byron Local Area Command were assisted by personnel from the Northern Region, the Dog Unit, Public Order and Riot Squad, Operations Support Group, Mounted Unit, Traffic & Highway Patrol Command and Police Transport Command, executing an expansive five-day high-visibility operation across the event.

"Police work closely with Splendour organisers to ensure the festival is safe and fun," Tweed/Byron Local Area Commander and Acting Superintendent Gary Cowan said in the statement, "and we are pleased the overwhelming majority of revellers were well-behaved all weekend."

"I am disappointed there were still some people who ignored our advice and tried to bring illegal drugs passt the drug-detection dogs and through the gates. We arrested a number of people with large amounts of drugs and, in court, we will allege these people were planning to sell the drugs inside the festival."

According to a police statement, the police presence was a success, with drug dogs sniffing out 468 grams of illicit substances and 92 people being charged with drug-related offences, including a 19-year-old-man seated in a car found to be carrying seven MDMA tablets, 3.4 grams of cannabis and 53 capsules containing magic mushrooms; a 21-year-old-woman in possession of 123 tablets of MDMA and a re-sealable bag of cocaine; a 19-year-old-man in possession of 92 suspected MDMA tablets, 26 LSD tabs and 35 grams of cannabis; and two 18-year-old men who were found to be carrying a tin with 398 cardboard squares in plastic bags, believed to be LSD.

In addition to the busts, which no-doubt kept the on-site legal advice stall pretty busy, 75 cannabis cautions were issued in total, while medical personnel were kept busy with several alcohol and drug-related incidents and injuries.