Drug-dealing stalls in Copenhagen's Christiania torn down

Residents of Christiania here started to tear down scores of cannabis-selling stalls in the self-governing community in a bid to close down the infamous drug market.

The move comes after two police officers were shot by a gunman in Christiania during a routine task on Wednesday night. The suspected gunman was later shot by police and died from his wounds early on Friday.

Residents of Christiania, also known as Freetown, gathered on Thursday night for a meeting, where the decision was made to shut down the open-air cannabis market, Pusher Street.

Risenga Manghezi, a spokesman for the residents in Christiania, said they strongly condemned the criminality that the cannabis market entailed.

"Christiania cannot take responsibility for housing all of Denmark's cannabis trade," Manghezi said in press statement.

In the meanwhile, he called upon citizens to not buy drugs in the community.

"We need all of Denmark's help for that. If you support Christiania, stop buying your cannabis here," Manghezi said.

Christiania was established by squatters in 1971 and a liberal attitude toward soft drugs has existed since then.

Although massive actions have been taken by police to stop the trade of drugs in the community, the dealing was never really eradicated.

Veronica Lee, a middle-aged resident of Christiania, said she supported the decision to remove the drug dealers' trading stalls from the community, although she was not against the trading of cannabis if it was legalized.

"I hope that peace and harmony will return to our community after the stalls are removed," she said.

Danish police arrested 28 people in September last year in a major operation targeting the cannabis trade in Christiania. Previously, 76 people were sentenced to a combined 187 years and three months in what has been considered as the country's largest ever cannabis case. Endit