JOINT FORCE RAIDS NIMBIN

Up to 50 police, including riot squad officers from Sydney, raided two
of Nimbin's main tourist attractions on Tuesday in a bid to clamp down
on illegal drug activity in the township.

The mid-morning raids on the Nimbin Hemp Museum, Hemp Embassy and Hemp
Bar in the main street upset many locals, who described them as overkill.

Eight people were arrested and charged with various cannabis offences
and police seized four kilograms of cannabis, cash, cannabis cookies,
suppositories and more than 200 water pipes.

The raids came only weeks before the village stages its popular annual
MardiGrass festival and marijuana law-reform rally, which draws
thousands of people.

Police acted on a tip-off and executed search warrants on the
targetted premises in Cullen Street. They also searched people inside.

A large convoy of police vehicles, including an RBT bus, were used to
transport police, which included officers from neighbouring commands
as well as sniffer dogs.

Richmond Local Area Commander Superintendent Bruce Lyons has vowed to
continue targetting Nimbin or any other area in his command where
illegal-drug activity occurs.

Supt Lyons said the operation was testament to the NSW Police Force's
tough stance on all drugs and he wanted to send out a "clear message"
about it.

"Illegal drugs continue to be a blight on our society and the supply
of these drugs in the Nimbin area is an issue repeatedly raised by the
local community," Supt Lyons said.

"The people of Nimbin do not want any illicit drugs in their town or
being offered to their children - notwithstanding the fact that the
production, possession and supply of these drugs are crimes."

Supt Lyons said only cannabis was seized in the raids but that harder
drugs such as heroin and amphetamines were known to have been sold in
the village in the past.

He denied the raids were an excessive use of force or 'over-the-top',
saying he believed they were carried out in a professional manner.

He said the reason for the riot squad's presence was the fact police
had been injured carrying out such raids in the past.

He could not estimate the cost of the operation and said the days of
Nimbin's "tourist trade living off the back of drug dealing" were over
and, to this end, he had recently more than doubled police presence in
the township from four to nine officers.

He said his command had been working closely with the Nimbin community
to reduce drug-related crime and other criminal activity in the township.

He said the operation also served as a timely warning to anyone
considering possessing or supplying drugs at MardiGrass, which will be
held on May 3 and 4.

"Police will be at the festival once again this year and fully
enforcing all drug laws, as well as targetting anti-social behaviour
and other crimes," he said.

While police tagged the raids Operation Mickey, Nimbin Hemp Embassy
president Michael Balderstone described them as Nimbin's "April Fools
Day Police Raids".

Mr Balderstone said police declared the museum a crime scene and
searched everyone and "found heaps of little stashes, and some not so
little".

"The real trouble will come from Lismore City Council, which sent
their town planner, food inspector, environmental health man and
building services inspector. They measured all the rooms. We're
history. Fire exits. Lismore Council was part of a very co-ordinated
raid. "All the Lismore Council departments came with the police and
they've all gone away with lots of measurements and hundreds of
photos. It's ironic that it should happen on April Fools Day, when we
were going to have a protest about not being too normal."

Local, Roy Gordon, said, "We were just sitting there having a coffee.
I was doing a few sketches of the Nimbin Rocks, next minute all these
police were around us. 'No one move, hands up' they yelled. we had to
sit there for 15 minutes while they cordoned off the place. They made
the place a crime scene, I don't know why. It's a museum, it's a
public place, we were just enjoying the sun and some coffee.

"It's a show of force. It's been quite scary, it could have got a bit
hectic there early. There are always a few cowboys in among them," he
said.

Another local, Bo Kaan, who was setting up to play music for Fossil
Fools Day said the town was abuzz that a big raid was imminent.

"All the street dealers knew, they quickly packed up and hiked it but
the rest of us just thought it was an April Fools joke," Mr Kaan said.

"I'd gone down Rainbow Lane. when all of a sudden, someone yelled
'Don't anybody move' and in comes 25 or 30 cops, all with batons,
shields, pads, guns, the whole lot."

Another local, Neil Pike, said, "If they wanted to bust a dope deal in
Nimbin they don't need a riot squad, it's just a political show of
force, a colourful media exercise, an attempt to justify their own
'the boy who cries wolf' routines."

Mr Pike said police "concentrated on grass" and "ignored" the harder
drugs trade in heroin or amphetamines.

"We're about to get hit by a huge amount of Afghani heroin, according
to the major media sources, and what are they doing? Sending the riot
squad up from Sydney to bust a cafe, a political party and a museum?
For * sake."