Police seize illicit drugs at Wodonga's Deja Gruuve festival

Police seized a "mixture of amphetamines, ecstasy and ketamine" on Saturday, November 11, at what was otherwise an incident-free festival.

Senior Sergeant Shane Martin said, "Overall, everyone was pretty good and well-behaved".

"We did have one little scuffle at the end, but overall, there were no issues at all," he said.

"However, we did have nine people caught trying to bring drugs into the venue."

These people will now undergo a drug diversion process.

"We are not trying to be punitive," Senior Sergeant Martin said.

"We are trying to give them some assistance about the use of drugs, and trying to connect them to the right services."

Instead of being dealt a criminal penalty, a drug diversion process connects individuals to a health provider who talks about the harm of drugs.

They must complete a course on drug safety, and then that's the end of the matter.

"We just want to alert people to the dangers of taking these substances that are made in people's backyards," Senior Sergeant Martin said.

"You don't know what you are putting into your body; these drugs are made by people who are not professional, and who knows what substances they are putting in there?

"They can obviously do some harm and impact your health, so we just want people to be aware of the risks and stay safe."

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