A MAJOR drug bust by Mount Gambier detectives have stopped $30,000 worth of MDMA – commonly known as ecstasy – from reaching a hip-hop concert held in the city on the weekend.
Acting on information received from their metropolitan counterparts, Mount Gambier Police executed a search warrant on a house in the city late last week.
The search uncovered a large quantity of ecstasy equating to more than 2000 street deals.
A 19-year-old man – who had travelled to the region from Adelaide to attend a hip-hop concert – was arrested and will be summonsed to appear in court at a later date.
Limestone Coast Police officer in charge Superintendent Phil Hoff said the drugs were destined to be sold to attendees at the concert held in the city on Saturday night.
“We were made aware of the concert last week and it is the sort of concert which has notoriously been associated with drug use,” Supt Hoff
said.
“In part of our preparation we looked at our intelligence holdings and it led us to search a premises in Mount Gambier where we uncovered the drugs.”
While it was a major sting for the police, Supt Hoff said it was disappointing a young man planned to sell the drugs in the first
place.
“It’s great that we have been able to get these drugs off the streets, which have been proved to be pretty harmful,” he said.
“We were led to believe these drugs were to be for sale before the event and the last thing we wanted to see is young people intoxicated by illicit substances.
“This is someone who is embarking on a criminal enterprise and it is always sad to see someone fall on the wrong side of the law.”
In light of the discovery, police were on high alert at the event on Saturday night where an 18-year-old Port Fairy man was also found in possession of drugs.
Limestone Coast Police operations inspector Campbell Hill said everyone else attending the event was well-behaved.
“We nabbed one person who had 14 ecstasy tablets and one tablet of LSD in addition to a small amount of cannabis,” Insp Hill said.
“There were no other reports of anti-social behaviour, which is a good reflection of everyone else who attended.
“We will always take a keen interest in events such as these where we believe drugs might be consumed.”
Supt Hoff said the drugs had the potential to cause serious harm and placed stress on emergency services.
“The health system is not equipped to deal with a massive influx of drug-affected people,” he said.
“We are also not equipped to deal with large amounts of anti-social behaviour associated with these drugs.”
Police are investigating a number of other persons of interest who may have had involvement with the drugs which were located.
Anyone with information about drug dealing drugs is urged to report it online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
