Courts & Police
16 February, 2026
Six hundred and four people detected drug driving in statewide traffic operation
More than six hundred drivers have been detected allegedly driving with drugs in their systems during a statewide police traffic operation last week.
More than six hundred drivers have been detected allegedly driving with drugs in their systems during a statewide police traffic operation last week.
Operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers) commenced at 12am on Thursday, 12 February and concluded at 4am Sunday (15 February), targeting people driving while affected by alcohol, drugs, and fatigue.
During the operation, police conducted 9,126 drug tests with 604 people returning positive samples and conducted more than 121,000 breath tests with 167 drink driving offences detected.
At about 1.15am on Friday 13 February, police attached to Macarthur Highway Patrol were conducting stationary roadside breath testing on The Northern Road at Narellan when they signalled for a driver of a Nissan Navara to enter the testing site.
When the driver allegedly failed to enter the site and failed to stop, police initiated a pursuit.
The 28-year-old man stopped a short time later after allegedly reaching speeds of more than 165km/h.
The man was arrested and allegedly returned a positive reading to alcohol and illicit drugs.
He was taken to Narellan Police Station, where secondary testing allegedly returned a reading of 0.189 and positive to cocaine.
He was charged with police pursuit – not stop – drive dangerous, class A motor vehicle exceed speed more than 45km/h, and drive with high range prescribed concentration alcohol.
He was granted conditional bail to appear in Picton Local Court this Thursday 19 February.
Police are awaiting the results of the oral fluid sample analysis.
While the operation focused on detecting drivers operating a vehicle impaired by alcohol, drugs or fatigue, the high-visibility operation saw police across the state issue more than 6,500 traffic infringement notices, including 1,695 for speed-related offences, 267 for mobile phone use, and 77 restraint-related offences.
Three people lost their lives on NSW roads.
Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism, Yasmin Catley, said the focus on targeting people driving while affected by alcohol, drugs and fatigue doesn’t end with the conclusion of this operation.
“While Operation RAID has wrapped up, police continue to have a highly visible presence on our roads,” she said.
“Too many lives have been shattered because someone thought they were fine to drive when they weren’t.
“Too much of what happens on our roads is preventable. Police are out there every day, but they can’t be everywhere – we need drivers to make better, safer choices – for themselves, their passengers and everyone else.”
Assistant Commissioner David Driver, Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, said that disappointingly, drivers continued to get behind the wheel after consuming drugs and too much alcohol.
“People effected by drugs, alcohol and fatigue are some of the most dangerous behaviours we see on our roads because all of them slow reactions, impair judgement and puts every road user at risk,” Assistant Commissioner Driver said.
“Drug use by those driving vehicles is particularly concerning as data indicates that 24 per cent of fatalities on NSW roads involve the presence of illicit substances”.
“Last year, there were over 28,000 positive roadside drug indications with police conducting over 215,000 random drug tests.
“Drivers need to understand that when they consume any illicit drug, the chances of being involved in a fatal crash increase.
“Unfortunately, police consistently see a high number of roadside drug test detections, often combined with alcohol or high speeds, during each traffic operation, which is why officers will continue to run enforcement activity to deter dangerous driving behaviour.”
Read More: Camden, Picton, Wollondilly