A hippie neighbourhood in central Copenhagen is fighting back against organised criminals – by dismantling the street they deal on.
For more than 50 years, the neighbourhood of Christiania in the Danish capital has been a haven for counter-culture, with a liberal attitude towards cannabis and their famous drug market, Pusher Street.
But in recent years, criminals have taken over the formerly peaceful drug-friendly neighbourhood, and organised crime has shocked the community.
Yesterday, residents took matters into their own hands and began physically digging up pusher street stone by stone.
Pia Jagger told BBC: ‘We’ve been breaking up Pusher Street. It’s closing down today. So it’s a kind of a closing party.’
The street was formerly a haven for peaceful cannabis selling, despite the drug being illegal in Denmark.
Years ago, this changed when local gangs took over and tried to monopolise the market – resulting in fatal stabbings and shootings and rocking the hippie neighbourhood.
Mette Prag said: ‘We’re going to dig it up. We’re gonna change all the infrastructure. Then we’re gonna start building other stuff.
‘For us hash is not the problem, it’s the money in it. But the last years with all the violence and all the fighting, we cannot have it in our society.
‘That’s why now this chapter must come to an end.’
Onlookers cheered as locals began removing the cobblestones from the road, with Sofie Ostergaard saying she had avoided the area for five or six years.
She said: ‘…I haven’t been here that much because I have kids and I didn’t feel very safe. Today I brought all three of them, and they’re helping.’
Kim Moeller, a professor of criminology at Malmo University, told the BBC: ‘If you have a conflict between groups in Copenhagen, they can most likely find each other in Pusher Street where they can shoot at each other.’
The commune remains home to 1,000 residents, including 250 children – and is one of Denmark’s top tourist destinations.
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