Drug market thrives with code names on social media sites

DRUG dealers are openly trading illicit substances in social media groups that are remaining active for months despite being in breach of the platform’s terms and conditions.

Dozens of private Facebook groups with the words “vegetables” or “need” in their titles are littered across the platform with users trading drugs under code names and symbols under the guise of buying and selling fruits and vegetables or other food.

Some with members from across Australia have been operating openly for months or even years, often regularly changing their group’s name.

In 2018, five men were arrested after a Facebook group known as “Vegetables Australia” was shut down.

Several active groups infiltrated by News Corp and then reported to Facebook for “authorised sales” saw users simply post the word “need”, what drug they wanted using a code and their location before awaiting a response in the comments.

Some of the drug code names used were broc, broccoli or the broccoli emoji for marijuana, cold or the snowflake emoji for methamphetamine and light salad dressing or the salad emoji for LSD.

The word “coco” or the chocolate emoji was also used as a code name for cocaine.

Some of the groups had at least 15 posts a day with marijuana the most offered and requested drug, followed by methamphetamine (ice).

Cyber security expert and former police officer Susan McLean described the private Facebook groups as the “21st century hotel carpark” and a new way for an old crime to be committed.

“These groups are openly against Meta’s (formerly the Facebook company) terms and conditions and the admins of these pages need to remember they are facilitating the trade of illegal drugs and they will be charged if found by police,” Ms McLean said.

A Meta spokesman confirmed several of the Facebook groups reported by News Corp had been taken down “for breaching our policies”.