Massive Music Festival at Gorge Nets Huge Number of Drug Busts
This last weekend's EDM (electronic dance music) Paradiso Festival at The Gorge Amphitheater was a busy one for Grant County Sheriff's Deputies and other law enforcement. According to Sheriff Tom Jones, here's a list of what they were kept busy doing:
"Drug busts at #Paradiso2019 included 38 drug dealers on 97 felony charges. All were drug-dealing quantity busts, not simple possession-size busts. Detectives seized Molly, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine, steroids, ketamine, thousands of dollars in cash and one handgun. Involved: @GrantCoSheriff, Moses Lake PD, Yakima city & county detectives, Columbia River Drug Task Force, @WSP, Adams County, @HSI."
Wow! The festival has not necessarily been marked by "bad" behavior, but the drug problems have ticked up. In comparison to its Country music counterpart Watershed, Paradiso had considerably more drug activity. Most of the past arrests at Watershed (coming in August) were from too much alcohol and some rowdy behavior.
Several dozen artists played at Paradiso this year. No word on how many actual concert goers themselves were arrested.