382 dance music fans were caught with user quantities of drugs during the two festival weekends of the Tomorrowland dance music festival in Boom (Antwerp Province). The figure is slightly down on the year. Those caught were offered an on-the-spot amicable settlement by the public prosecutor's office. Sixty-seven people were arrested. ‘These include festival-goers, but also people who were there for professional purposes,’ says Kristof Aerts, the Antwerp public prosecutor's office’s spokesperson.
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Police catch 382 drug users at Tomorrowland, 23 dealers to appear in court
Colin Clapson
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Twenty-three people were also caught dealing drugs. They will appear in court in October. During the festival, the police issued a total of 481 reports for offences including public drunkenness and antisocial behaviour.
The narcotics were confiscated, those involved lost their festival wristbands and were immediately removed from the festival grounds,’ says Aerts. All users had to pay an amicable settlement that brought in 94,800 euros.
The police also caught 23 dealers, who received a summons to appear before the Antwerp Criminal Court during a special hearing on 22 October. They include Belgians, Dutch, British, Spanish, North Macedonian, Turkish, Serbian, Italian, Polish, Brazilian and German nationals.
Sample testing at festival site
For the second year in a row, the National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC) tested 661 samples of drugs seized at Tomorrowland. "MDMA, ketamine and cocaine featured in the top three, just like last year”.
There were twenty-five reports of potentially dangerous substances that were immediately forwarded to health science institute Sciensano and the relevant medical services to guarantee public health. "These mainly concerned combination preparations, so-called ‘pink powders’, and ecstasy tablets containing psychoactive substances other than MDMA," says Aerts.