Captured on camera: the drug-pushers of Instagram
So brazen. So dangerous. MoS probe reveals how social media giants are fuelling terrifying teen craze for prescription pills
RUTHLESS dealers are using Instagram to sell highly addictive and deadly prescription drugs to youngsters across Britain, a Mail on Sunday investigation has found.
Criminals openly lure people to buy the powerful tranquilliser Xanax, responsible for dozens of deaths, through the photo-sharing website used by millions of teenagers.
The brazen pushers make no attempt to hide their harmful and illegal trade, and before our investigation, Instagram – owned by internet giant Facebook – appeared to be making no effort to stop them.
Simply by searching for the phrase ‘xanaxUK’ and other similar terms on Instagram, Mail on Sunday investigators were able to locate dozens of drug peddlers on the site.
Within seconds, photographs of the pills and detailed price lists for Xanax, cannabis and ecstasy appeared alongside clear instructions on how to purchase them.
Users are instructed to contact the sellers through a free encrypted messaging app called Wickr – which deletes the messages after they are read – presumably to avoid dealers being traced by the police.
Xanax is a Class C controlled drug, carrying a maximum sentence for possessing, supplying or importing of 14 years’ imprisonment.
Twenty-four hours after contacting one dealer, we met a hooded young man calling himself MZ. He handed over 110 of the distinctive rectangular pills, which can only be prescribed by doctors, in exchange for £200.
We secretly filmed as he boasted that his business was booming since he started plying his trade on Instagram. He said: ‘Ever since I put it on Instagram I’ve been getting messages every day, from Leeds, Scotland, America, all over the gaff. Business is all good. It’s so popular at the moment.’
Xanax is a tranquilliser 20 times more powerful than Valium. In a craze sweeping Britain, users mix the drug with cough syrup and
alcohol. Medical experts warn the cocktail, known as ‘Lean’, can cause heart failure, blackouts, memory loss and extreme aggression.
Our exposé comes days after it was revealed that between 2013 and 2016, up to £200million of prescription-only medicines were diverted to the black market. Last month the Government announced an inquiry into the harmful effects and over-prescription of tranquillisers such as Xanax.
Doctors have reported a shocking increase in the number of youngsters arriving at A&E with serious health problems resulting from the abuse of the drug. Dr Adrian Harrop, based in Scarborough Hospital, said: ‘Xanax is a massive problem. We’ve seen increasing numbers of young people overdosing, having obtained it from the internet. It’s much more powerful than typical street benzodiazepines [tranquillisers], and much more likely to be deadly in overdose.’
Eight people were taken to hospital in Sussex at Christmas after taking the drug, and last May police sent out an appeal when 20 teenagers needed medical treatment in one week after taking Xanax. Police Scotland issued a warning after at least 27 Xanax-related deaths were recorded there in 2017. In the past two years addiction centre UKAT has seen a 200 per cent rise in people being admitted to rehab for Xanax addiction, more than half of them under 24.
The Mail on Sunday met one dealer who used emojis and hashtags to attract buyers. One photograph of more than 100 pills in rows was captioned: Follow The White Brick Road.
During our meeting in Beckton, East London, MZ told us: ‘I’m not even that big on Instagram – but I’m going to jump back on it and get some more s*** up there. You’ll see more pictures from me there soon.’
Other photos of his include the words ‘London meets only’ written in Xanax tablets. He has captioned them ‘serious enquiries only’. The pills are rectangular and had the word Xanax written along the side. They appeared to be identical to ones produced by drug manufacturer Pfizer, although they may be counterfeit. The MoS took them to a Home Office laboratory and found they contained alprazolam, the active ingredient in Xanax.
Our reporter contacted another dealer on Instagram who agreed to meet him in Manchester and sold him 40 pills for £60.
As well as Xanax, his Instagram page features photographs of cannabis and MDMA – the active ingredient in ecstasy. The freshfaced young man looked to be in his teens and wore a black hoodie. He gave his name as AD and said: ‘Loads of people buy off it [Instagram]. Everyone likes them.’
A laboratory analysis of the drugs found these were not Xanax, but another benzodiazepine called Etizolam. It is also a Class C drug and not licensed in the UK.
Karen Tyrell, of support group Addaction, said: ‘The youngsters we’ve spoken to appear to have little or no knowledge of the risks so we need to make sure they know about the dangers of Xanax – particularly in combination with other drugs and alcohol.’
Bambos Charalambous, Labour MP for Enfield Southgate, who highlighted the problem of Xanax abuse in a Commons debate last month, called on Instagram and other social media sites to take action. And Tim Loughton, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: ‘It’s incredible that Instagram is allowing the platform to be used for something as harmful as this. This is just aiding and abetting dealers in selling harmful drugs.’
The Health Department said: ‘Prescription-only medicines can be potent and should only be prescribed by a doctor or appropriate healthcare professional.’
Last night, Instagram pledged to remove the accounts of Xanax dealers. A spokesman said: ‘The Instagram community must follow the law and the sale of illegal or prescription drugs is not allowed. As soon as we are made aware of violating content we work quickly to remove it.’
Pfizer said: ‘We are alarmed by the rise of counterfeit Xanax and its growing availability on the internet. The photographs provided by The Mail on Sunday appear to show loose US market-style alprazolam 2mg tablets. Pfizer considers that there is a high likelihood they are counterfeit, neither manufactured nor licensed by Pfizer.’