Twenty people have been arrested in a crackdown on drugs in some of Melbourne’s most popular entertainment precincts.

Dozens of uniformed and plain-clothed police officers trawled Chapel Street and Toorak Road in Prahran and St Kilda last night.

A total of 129 people were questioned and 172 vehicles searched, with police seized cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine, ketamine and MDMA.

“It’s about being safe and feeling safe at all times,” Victoria Police Superintendent Philip Green said of the crackdown, codenamed Operation Safenight.

“From January 15, we had 30 hospital admissions from drug overdose and four deaths.”

Supt Green said the number of arrests were “disturbing”.

Of the 20 people arrested, 16 were referred to a drug diversion program and four were interviewed in relation to drug possession.

Areas near Pawn and Co on Greville Street and Lucky Coq and Revolver Nightclub on Chapel Street were among the spots targeted.

Alex Holt, a local trader in Prahran, said he had not noticed any spike in drug-fuelled violence or anti-social behaviour.

“My experience of the area has been pretty positive. The rate of social disturbance is no higher than any other precinct I’ve been involved in,” he said.