Police raid on the 24th High Times Cannabis Cup
The force consisted of 150 to 200 men and showed up unexpectedly around 4.30 p.m. Eye witnesses reported via Twitter that all attendees were searched and all booths were investigated. Buds were confiscated but no charges or arrests were made. According to these tweeting attendees, the police were thorough in their searches but not otherwise hostile towards the crew or visitors.
Up until now, the High Times Cup has always been a peaceful event. There has never been report of problems or disturbances of any kind, from its first edition in 1988 until now. The VOC (Dutch Association for the abolition of Cannabis prohibition) was appalled by the police raid and large show of force, going so far as stating that the war on cannabis has even spread to the Netherlands and that this action might be the start of the criminalization of cannabis in what used to be a tolerant country.
For a while it looked as though this would mark the end of the Cannabis Cup, with police confiscating and bagging everything, but according to an update on the High Times site the event will continue today at 2 p.m. According to this post, the raid started over a misunderstanding about a permit application filed by the venue to host the event and that attendees were never the target. The misunderstanding has since been resolved and there no arrests were made.
Sources:
VOC Nederland
Photo courtesy of DNA Genetics
See the album on the Azarius facebook page for more photos taken at the Cannabis Cup.
