On Saturday, police with drug-detection dogs were allegedly asking patrons at several Oxford Street venues to remove clothing in public view, walking the dogs along queues and questioning patrons about why they were leaving venues or what they were doing in the bathroom, said MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich.
He said that “a large visual presence of police” of between 12 and 20 officers raided multiple LGBTQI+ venues, including Darlinghurst’s Universal, Palms, Arq and Kinselas, while also entering The Dolphin and The Beresford in Surry Hills, and Darlinghurst’s Oxford Art Factory.
NSW Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna said that 65 people were searched in an “intelligence-led, prevention-focused, high-visibility operation in Surry Hills” which resulted in 28 drug detections, 12 fines, six cannabis cautions and one move-on direction.
Police inspected 15 venues and identified four licensing breaches and one minor inside a venue.
“Officers were deployed to the Oxford Street Entertainment Precinct where they aimed to proactively disrupt and address drug supply and possession, antisocial behaviour and other offences related to illicit drugs,” McKenna said.
He said that while NSW Police ran a similar program across the state “intermittently”, the Surry Hills precinct had a “higher than average detection rate for prohibited drugs; it is not the most frequented command to have such operations occur”.
Redfern Legal Centre’s Rian Terrell said that NSW Police’s repeated decisions to deploy drug dogs to target Oxford Street venues and patrons “amount to targeted harassment of the LGBTQIA+ community”.
“That NSW Police chose to raid Oxford Street again, when that investigation has not concluded, raises further concerns,” Terrell said.
“Drug detection dogs are intimidating and a safety risk, encouraging patrons to engage in risky behaviour such as ‘preloading’ or panic consumption. The significant harm caused by deploying drug dogs and searching members of the LGBTQI+ community is not justified.”
Read the full article published by The Sydney Morning Herald on 14 September 2026.
