POLICE MOVE ON KINGS CROSS DRUG CAFES

Kings Cross cafes that sell marijuana as well as food may soon be shut
down, New South Wales Police said today.

Police said they were awaiting court orders to close down a number of Kings
Cross cafes because of drug-related activity.

A Sydney newspaper today reported staff at five cafes were openly dealing
in drugs, including two where customers could buy marijuana as easily as
coffee.

The revelation came ahead of the start of a national drug summit in Sydney
today.

City East Region Commander Dick Adams said an application to have the cafes
shut down under the Disorderly Houses Amendment Act had been made to the
Supreme Court.

He said further evidence to support the application had been gathered.

It was reported today that the cafes were just 200 metres from the site of
the state government's proposed heroin injecting room and 100 metres from
Kings Cross police station.

Commander Adams said police had been targeting drug dealing in the area for
some time.

"Police are committed to reducing, as much as possible, the incidents of
drug dealing and drug-related crime," he said in a statement.

However, police needed strong evidence to put offenders before the courts
and have the charges sustained, he said.

In the past six months, Kings Cross police have arrested 230 people for
possessing drugs and 77 people for supplying drugs.