Police discovered a large stash of party drugs buried beneath the Creamfields festival site in Daresbury, including 204 canisters of nitrous oxide and large bags of ecstasy, MDMA and ketamine tablets. The find came as officers patrolled the grounds ahead of the event, which is expected to draw 80,000 electronic dance music fans over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Officers uncover buried holdalls
The drugs were hidden in holdalls buried under the site, a tactic officers said drug dealers use every year, sometimes burying packages months in advance only to dig them up once the festival has been built. Superintendent Andy Blizard, who is overseeing the Creamfields policing operation, said: “Every year we remind those attending Creamfields that there is a zero-tolerance policy regarding drugs and, every year, we counter a number of brazen individuals who think they can outsmart us by concealing drugs from view or burying them at the site months in advance.”
He added: “Our specialist search teams have spent a considerable amount of time combing the grounds of the Creamfields site ahead of the festival’s opening later this week.” Officers even asked anyone who had buried a rucksack on the site and wanted it back to come forward, saying they were “looking forward to meeting them”.
Zero-tolerance warning to attendees
Blizard said: “We fully expect to find further quantities as our searches continues, leaving many of those who chose to bury these items very much disappointed to find them no longer where left them when they arrive at the festival do dig them back up. Anyone who has buried a rucksack or hold-all bag at the site and would like it back is asked to get in contact with us – officers have already begun conducting enquiries to identify their owners and look forward to speaking to them soon.”
The festival will feature Arman Van Helden, Becky Hill, Fatboy Slim and Underworld on its stages over the Bank Holiday.
Previous drug case at Creamfields
Last year, a mother-of-four was stopped after a sniffer dog alerted towards her as she tried to enter through the north gate at Creamfields in Cheshire. Sian Bullock, 35, admitted to officers she had 64 MDMA tablets worth up to £630 hidden inside two Kinder Egg containers which were secreted inside her body. She claimed she didn’t know what the drugs were and had bought them for personal use. She pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to three years.
Locals are becoming sick of the festival, which takes over Daresbury Estate for the 20th year. They complained about 10-mile queues of cars and inebriated fans trying to break into their gardens, forcing residents to leave the usually quiet Cheshire village. One resident, Ian Brittain, told the BBC: “It causes chaos – we feel like prisoners in our own homes. We are scared to leave.”
