A man was caught smuggling drugs into a music festival by slathering MDMA pills with Vegemite and wrapping them around his penis with clingfilm.
He was among 24 people detected with drugs at Listen Out festival in St Kilda, Victoria, on Saturday.
Acting Inspector Stuart Bailey said the police crackdown was aimed to ensure the safety of festival-goers and the broader public.
Last year, a woman died from an overdose at the event in Catani Gardens.
A man was caught smuggling drugs into a music festival by slathering MDMA pills with Vegemite and wrapping them around his penis with clingfilm (file photo)
‘We found several males had the drugs wrapped in plastic and wrapped around their penis,’ Insp Bailey told the Herald Sun.
‘One smothered his MDMA in Vegemite believing the dog would not be able to detect the drugs. Wrong!’
He explained that the dogs are highly trained to detect illicit substances despite attempts to mask the scent.
‘People may think they are able to come up with methods to mask the presence of drugs but these dogs are highly trained to be able to detect substances in spite of attempts to put them off the scent,’ he said.
He was among 24 people detected with drugs at Listen Out festival in St Kilda on Saturday (pictured)
The man believed that using the spread with throw off drug detector dogs
‘Drugs have the potential to cause harm every time they are consumed which is why we run these operations aimed at reducing that risk.’
He added: ‘It was no secret that police were going to be present on Saturday and it was therefore disappointing that so many people were detected with drugs.’
The Passive Alert Detection (PAD) dog operation at the festival saw 19 people receive drug diversions and three people receive cannabis cautions.
Police said the dogs are highly trained to detect drugs despite attempts to mask the scent
A number of drugs were seized including substances marketed as amphetamines, MDMA, cannabis, speed and ketamine.
Emergency services also attended to festival-goers intoxicated by drug and alcohol.
Two 21-year-old men were also arrested during the festival.
One, from Lower Plenty, was arrested for drunkenness when trying to jump over a fence to gain entry to the event.
The second, from Briar Hill, allegedly threw beer cans at police as they were arresting the first man.
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