A Rainbow Serpent festival contractor has allegedly been caught with a whoooooooole bunch of drugs on his way to the event grounds in Lexton, Victoria.
The man — who told police he was contracted to work at this weekend’s bush doof supplying camping equipment — was stopped by police at a servo in Warrenheip last Wednesday at around 1.50pm.
As Fairfax Regional Media reports, the cops searched his vehicle and struck white gold, allegedly uncovering a goliath 260 grams of cocaine (that’s 86 times the trafficable quantity, just FYI) plus 84 grams of cannabis, 15 grams of MDMA, 25 grams of amphetamine and amphetamine paste, one litre of GHB and four grams of hashish.
Yup.
A sh*tload of cash was also seized from the car, including $12,453 in Aussie currency and $6,200 in American currency.
Police further allege that the man’s wallet contained a ‘tick list’ indicating names of people and the amount of cash owed to each.
The man and his passenger were both arrested and charged with nine offences each, including three counts of “trafficking a drug of dependence”. They’ve since been formally refused bail in court.
According to Fairfax, Ballarat Divisional Response Unit Senior Constable Jaclyn Clark told the Ballarat Magistrates Court that both men had been travelling to the festival early in a bid to dodge the official police drug dog operation.
Organisers of Rainbow Serpent have since issued their own statement as well, saying that the news of one of their contractors allegedly trafficking drugs has left them “in shock and extremely disappointed”.
“We unreservedly condemn these actions and appreciate the work of Victoria Police for preventing those drugs from arriving on site,” their statement reads.
“What we want to reiterate and make clear to the Pyrenees community and our patrons is that we are 110% dedicated to making Rainbow as safe as possible.”
Needless to say the disgraced contractor will no longer be attending this year’s festival. He’s set to remain behind bars ahead of his next court appearance on March 8th.
Meanwhile, ICYMI, nangs have also been officially banned at this year’s Rainbow Serpent, which runs between 26th and 29th January.
Lat year, a 22-year-old man died at the event after reportedly drinking amyl nitrite. A 21-year-old woman was also allegedly bitten and sexually assaulted multiple times.
For more information about this year’s fest, you can head to the official website.
