A man has been charged with alleged drug trafficking at the festival the Victorian government is trialling its first mobile pill testing service.
Victoria Police allegedly intercepted a 28-year-old man from South Yarra at the Beyond the Valley music festival in Barunah Plains on Monday afternoon.
They conducted a search and seized what is alleged to be 17 MDMA pills, four grams of cocaine, and seven other pills believed to be drugs of dependence.
He has been charged with trafficking cocaine and MDMA, and was bailed to appear before the Geelong magistrates court in March.
The music festival is the first event to feature pill-testing, as part of an 18 month trial by the state government, set to run throughout the summer music festival season.
The mobile testing service is confidential and anonymous, and offers personalised information for attenders.
It is planned to be at 10 festivals and events across the state in total, and is the largest pill-testing trial in the country.
Victoria Police said in a statement they will maintain a highly visible presence at the Beyond the Valley music festival.
They said they are aware a drug-checking place is operating at this festival, but added they “will continue to enforce against drug offences away from the drug-checking place and seize any illicit substances. As always, police may use discretion to not enforce possession offences”.
“Under the new legislation, it is not a criminal offence to possess small amounts of illicit drugs if you are attending a drug-checking place as a client. As a result, officers will not be attending these sites unless responding to incidents requiring police attendance,” the Victoria police statement said.
