Stereosonic organisers Totem Onelove Group have issued a statement following the arrests of two Sydney men who embarked on one of the most ill-fated drug smuggling plots you’ll ever read about.

As we reported yesterday, in a world that’s on high terror alert, 21-year-old Zane Raffie and 22-year-old Ali Ghoneim each allegedly showed up separately to Sydney’s Olympic Park to drill holes in the festival’s grounds.

The two failed smugglers were hoping to drill holes in the Stereosonic festival site before security fences went up in order to stash drugs on the grounds, which they would later retrieve once the event got underway.

Saturday will be one of Olympic Park’s biggest days since the 2000 Olympics, with 150,000 punters expected to attend four events at the complex, including Stereosonic, the Aus-X Open, and a Taylor Swift concert.

Naturally, Park management have stepped up security in the lead-up to the event and were on Raffie and Ghoneim faster than you can say ‘Ryobi’. Now Totem Onelove Group’s Marketing director John Curtin says security has been stepped up further:

“We were disappointed to learn that two individuals have been arrested allegedly planting drugs at the site and vicinity before the security fences are erected. The entire precinct has engaged extra police and security presence this year, with 4 major events and over 150,000 people expected this weekend.”

“We are being publicly vigilant to our patrons about our zero tolerance for drugs, unfortunately these two individuals have demonstrated their lack of respect for the law and for their fellow Stereosonic attendees and are banned from future events.”

Inspector Laird said police found punters attempting the same practice last year and stepped up their surveillance of the area ahead of this year’s festival. “They’re going to desperate lengths,” he said.

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“We know this happens so we’ve been regularly sweeping the area with drugs dogs over the last few days to make sure we find stuff before the park is fully locked down.”

“At the end of the day, if you’re planning to take drugs in, you’ll get caught. If you’ve already secreted drugs, we’ve already found them so don’t bother turning up.”

As part of the two men’s strict conditional bail, both have been barred from Sydney Olympic Park and police said they will be arrested if they turn up for Stereosonic.

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