Police crackdown pushes drug deals into public eye
With the closing of Christiania’s open-air drug market, dealers have moved out into the city, and often into plain sightDrug dealing in Copenhagen has become much more visible since Copenhagen police closed down the open-air drug market at Christiania in...
Drug dealing in Copenhagen has become much more visible since Copenhagen police closed down the open-air drug market at Christiania in 2004, according to police.
Since the market – known primarily for selling hashish and other cannabis products – was closed, police have made a concerted effort stamp out drug dealing entirely in the squatter colony. They now maintain a regular presence on the former 'Pusher Street' and frequently conduct searches and make arrests.
But instead of ending the drug trade, dealers have been spread throughout the city and now openly make deals in busy areas such as Israel Plads Square in the downtown area, Lituaens Plads Square in the Vesterbro district and Jægersborggade Street in the Nørrebro district.
‘It’s true that drug dealing has become more visible and in turn more unpleasant for residents who can now see the sales taking place,’ said Copenhagen Police Chief Hanne Bech Hansen.
Many also believe the Christiania raids have also changed hash's image from a part of Christiania's hippie culture to being at the centre of recent gang violence.
‘The gang war is about securing the income that result from the hash sales,’ said Michael Hviid Jacobsen, a sociologist at Aalborg Unniversity. ‘Many of the immigrant gangs are a direct result of the decision to clean up Pusher Street because it opened the possibility of getting into the hash market.’
Hansen said that while some drug dealers sprouted up in the wake of the Christiania raids, the gang war has several causes.
‘It’s a complicated conflict that’s partly about drugs but also about power, women and revenge.’