Ecstasy pills discovered at Splendour

THE popular Splendour in the Grass festival has ended on a disappointing note after police found a Gold Coast man with a large stash of ecstasy pills.

Late yesterday, a 21-yearold man was arrested by police after they found 60 ecstasy pills on him.

He was taken to Byron Bay Police Station and charged with supply prohibited drug and possess prohibited drug.

He will appear in Tweed Heads Local Court today.

And while police were overall pleased with the behaviour of the 32,500 revellers, 267 people were detected with drugs such as cannabis, ice, MDMA and cocaine.

Twelve people were charged over drug supply, 76 were issued with cannabis cautions and 142 people were given court attendance notices.

Five people were also charged with assault, including a 26-year-old man who allegedly assaulted security before resisting police and assaulting three senior constables.

Police also issued 65 criminal infringement notices to alleged trespassers who entered the event without valid tickets.

Despite the arrests, Detective Superintendent Wayne Starling said he was pleased with the majority of festivalgoers.

“We work closely with the organisers of Splendour to ensure the festival is safe and fun for event staff, performers and music fans, and are pleased the overwhelming majority of revellers were well-behaved,” Det Supt Starling said.

“It’s disappointing there were still some people who ignored our advice and tried to bring illegal drugs into the event, however they were intercepted by our drug-detection dogs.

“In many cases, charges were laid against those who chose to do the wrong thing and they will now be brought before the courts to address those offences.”