A number of drivers have been nabbed allegedly under the influence of drugs while behind the wheel during a three-day police blitz on Illawarra and South Coast roads.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Officers from the Wollongong, Lake Illawarra and South Coast police districts conducted almost 14,000 breath tests over three days as part of Operation Drink Drive 1.
The blitz, which ran from Friday until Sunday, also saw 167 drivers caught speeding, detected 22 seatbelt offences and 293 other penalty notices issued.
While the focus of the weekend operation was drink drivers, a number of people were caught allegedly driving while drugged.
In one of the more serious drug-related offences, a 21-year-old Horsley woman was stopped as she drove along Woodlawn Avenue at Mangerton about 1.50am on Sunday.
The woman gave a negative breath test but returned a positive drug test.
She was taken to Wollongong police station, where a second test was positive for amphetamine, and banned from driving for 24 hours. Police are awaiting final lab results.
A 20-year-old Wollongong man, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was arrested for breaching his bail.
A knife, a tomahawk and a quantity of drugs, believed to be methamphetamine, were allegedly found in the vehicle.
In another incident, a 60-year-old man returned a positive roadside drug test after his vehicle was stopped on Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Austinmer about 1.45pm on Saturday.
The man was taken to Wollongong police station, where he allegedly tested positive to cocaine and methamphetamine.
He was also banned from driving for 24 hours.
Meanwhile, a 46-year-old Woonona man was arrested on Mercury Street in Wollongong about 9.40am on Saturday, after he allegedly hit the gutter and narrowly missed parked cars.
The driver was intercepted near the Throsby Drive roundabout, close to where officers were conducting random breath testing.
The man was taken to Wollongong Hospital for blood and urine tests. It will be alleged he was well affected by prescription drugs.
According to police, the same man was again arrested by officers about five hours later - this time on nearby Greenacre Road - after returning to the scene and picking up his vehicle.
He was issued a future court attendance notice.
Two other drivers also returned positive drug tests for methamphetamine after being stopped on separate occasions in Wollongong and Berkeley at the weekend.
Senior Sergeant Andrew Palmowski, from South Coast Highway Patrol, said while speed and alcohol were the largest contributors to fatal and serious injury crashes, police were targeting all factors causing road trauma - including drivers under the influence of drugs.
"If you choose to take illicit substances, don't drive," Sergeant Palmowski said.
"Police will continue to conduct random testing, regardless of time of day or day of week, and it will only be a matter of time before you're caught."