Amsterdam police arrested more than 200 people for drugs offences during this week’s Amsterdam Dance Event festival, news agency ANP reported.

Over 100 people were picked up in the early hours of Saturday morning, and a further 100 plus on Sunday morning, police said. The ADE ended on Sunday night.

Most were arrested for having more than five ecstasy pills with them. The police had decided not to take legal action against people with fewer than five tablets or half a gramme of hard drugs.

‘We were confronted with a large number of people who had enough drugs to be prosecuted,’ police spokeswoman Ellie Lust told reporters. ‘In addition, our colleagues had to deal with people who were completely off their heads and others who were very aggressive.’

The police had set up stop and search procedures in front of several venues, leading to delays of up to one hour to enter some shows.

People caught with hard drugs had their pills confiscated and were banned from entering the event. Those with more than five pills were processed in super fast track court hearings but were able to consult a lawyer before deciding what to do. Many of those arrested were foreign tourists, local broadcaster AT5 said.

2,000 djs

The ADE is the biggest dance event of its kind in the world. In total 450 events took  place over the five days, with more than 2,000 djs and other artists performing at 100 locations around the city.

Up to 150,000 clubbers took part in the ADE at its height on Saturday night. In total, the event attracted 350,000 people.

One woman died from a drugs overdose during the festival and 16 others were taken to hospital.

Lust told reporters that there are ‘several dozen’ incidents on an average Saturday night in Amsterdam.