Cheshire Constabulary dug up 204 canisters of nitrous oxide at the Creamfields Festival site before the gates opened. Ecstasy and ketamine were among the other items recovered from buried bags at Daresbury near Warrington.
Superintendent Andy Blizard said officers have already spent a considerable amount of time combing the grounds ahead of the festival's opening later this week. About 80,000 people are expected over the August bank holiday weekend, so the search effort is aimed squarely at the crowd the site will hold from Thursday until Monday.
Andy Blizard on buried bags
Blizard 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." His warning is practical as well as pointed: anyone who buried a rucksack or holdall bag at the site and wants it back should get in contact with police.
204 canisters in the first sweeps
In the first week of sweeps, specialist officers found 204 canisters of nitrous oxide and large bags containing ecstasy, MDMA and ketamine tablets. Police also seized class A, B and C drugs hidden around the location, and photographs released by the force showed green tablets in the shape of Cornetto logos among the recovered items.
Searches continue before Thursday
Blizard said: "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." He also said: "We fully expect to find further quantities as our searches continue, leaving many of those who chose to bury these items very much disappointed to find them no longer where they left them when they arrive at the festival to dig them back up."
That is the hard edge of this operation: the initial haul is already large, and the searches are still moving through the site before the event starts. Anyone who left drugs or a bag underground now faces a police sweep that is not finished yet.
