In the weeks leading up to this weekend’s Splendour In The Grass, Dan McNamee of Art Vs Science – who performed at the Byron Bay festival on Saturday afternoon – put forward a sound argument for the banning of sniffer dogs at the multi-day event in order to reduce “the number of hospitalisations due to people panicking upon sight of the dogs and ingesting their whole weekend’s supply of drugs.”
While no reports of hospitalisations or medical injuries have surfaced, Police reports from Splendour have shown just how successful their sniffer dog squads have been.
Police officers and drug detection dogs began their operations at the Yelgun festival site on Wednesady afternoon, while Splendour organisers issued a reminder to its estimated 27,500 ticket-holders to not “risk missing Splendour by bringing illegal drugs.”
By Saturday, NSW Police had confiscated more than a kilo of drugs and arrested 159 punters through individual searches and vehicle checks, as SBS News reports.
“In total over the three days, we have seized more than a kilo of drugs,” a spokeswoman for NSW Police Media said in a statement issued on the second day of the festival. Around half of the illicit substances consisted of cannabis, while the rest consisted of ecstasy and “yet-to-be examined powder.”
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Despite the arrests, NSW Police said the crowds – including the nearly 17,500 campers – had been generally well behaved.
“In general, it looks like everybody’s behaving themselves. There were a couple of incidences, some antisocial behaviour and alcohol-related matters last night, but the vast majority of the crowd were well behaved,” the spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Stuart Wilkins tells ABC News that while the majority of Splendour festival-goers had partied responsibly, there were those that still persisted in attempting to smuggle drugs inside.
“It’s one of the largest music festivals in Australia,” he said, “and we seize more drugs here and detain more people for the possession of drugs than anywhere else in the state.”
Superintendent Wilkins also remarked on the heavy police presence at the Byron festival; “This is about harm minimisation, and it’s about protecting the people who come here to make sure they don’t take drugs. We see the after effects of people who do take drugs. We see the ice-addicts and those who suffer significantly through mental illness.”
Last year’s Splendour In The Grass saw half a kilo of drugs seized on the first day, while sniffer dogs on site resulted in 282 drug arrests, 118 cautions, 84 motorists charged for drink driving offences, and 130 court notices issued.
Back in January, one Mt Isa resident facing court for drug charges after being busted by canines at the gate found his charges dismissed after after the judge threw the case out, slamming Police for wasting taxpayers’ money over a seven-month long case over “five tablets that the police valued at $100.”
