Cops continue to tout Christiania success

Copenhagen police say that they have cut the cannabis trade on Pusher Street by 30 percent

Copenhagen Police's special unit targeting the drug trade in Christiania, Task Force Pusher Street, said that its offensive against illegal drugs in the freetown is still continuing to produce results.

The task force has been combating the drug trade on several fronts since September 2012 and claims to have reduced cannabis dealing by 30 percent since its launch.

“Based on our information about drug dealing on Pusher Street, since our task force went to work, the amount of cannabis being sold there has fallen by about 30 percent,” Task Force Pusher Street’s leader, Poul Kjeldsen, told Ritzau.

Working on several fronts
The task force takes a multi-pronged approach to fighting drugs, targeting buyers, sellers and suppliers. The group said in a press release that the diverse approach was the reason for its success.

Officers regularly stop motorists coming in and out of Christiania to check them for drugs. Police say that while those immediate, on-the-ground efforts are taking place, more discreet, long-term investigations are going on behind the scenes. 

Not the first time cops toot their horn
Task Force Pusher Street has so far seized over seven million kroner in cash since it started work. It busted a large network  on Monday that supplied joints to dealers on Pusher Street and confiscated 2.5 million kroner.

The department sends out regular press releases announcing the task force’s successes.

Police declined to say whether cracking down in Christiania had simply caused the drug trade to move to another location.