EXCLUSIVE

CRIMINALS are cashing it in as Facebook turns a blind eye on open drug markets operating within the social media platform.

Despite facing heavy criticism following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has again shown flaws in its business model as it plays home to a number of drug dealing hubs.

The groups disguise themselves as marketplaces to sell fruit and vegetables to others in capital cities, but once approved by admin, it becomes apparent the group is for something completely different.

Keeping with the theme of the group, the buying and selling of illegal drugs is conducted openly on the group thread using fruit and vegetables as code names.

• Broccoli = Marijuana

• Kale = Ketamine

• Light Salad Dressing = LSD

• Capsicum = MDMA caps

Posts using other well-known slang terms and blatantly asking for the drug itself by name can also be found inside the group.

One Facebook group, known as “Vegetables Sydney”, has just under 2000 members and describes itself as a “stable and safe group” provided for everyone.

News.com.au can reveal on Anzac Day alone there were more than 50 posts from sellers and buyers, as drug dealers looked to make thousands of dollars by meeting the clients’ demands across the city.

Marijuana was the most heavily demanded drug, with cocaine and MDMA also mentioned many times. LSD and Xanax also made multiple appearances throughout the day.

Those asking for drugs in the group had comments quickly left on their posts from dealers asking them to private message them.

NSW Police said it was aware of the group, which has been runing for a number of months, and investigations were ongoing.

The group is one of many similar iterations on the social media platform.

Earlier this month, a Facebook group known as “Vegetables Australia” was shut down by police, with five men arrested over an alleged ring being operated from the inner-Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst.

Police alleged they observed and listened as syndicate members handled tens of thousands of dollars and discussed how they obtained and moved the drugs.

The group was arrested on April 6 when officers who were part of Strike Force Oramzi raided an eastern suburbs home, a Hyde Park hotel room, and an apartment where $168,000 was found in a shoebox.

Despite shutting down the original group, mirror pages for “Vegetables Australia” and other pages related to other capital cities have surfaced on the social platform since the arrests, continuing the game of cat and mouse between law enforcement and criminals.

• Vegetables Australia — 1000 members

• Vegetables Australia 3.0 — 17,000 members

• Vegetables NSW Australia NO SCAMMERS OR TIMEWASTERS — 526 members

• Vegetables Australia 2.1 — 279 members

• Vegetables Sydney — 454 members

• Melbourne Vegetables — 1500 members

When asked about the groups, Facebook declined to give an official comment, but said it encouraged all users to report any inappropriate accounts, content or activity so it can review and remove any that are not consistent with its policies.

Facebook then directed news.com.au to a help page on how to report inappropriate content.

The news comes as Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale called for a new drug law reform policy to decriminalise weed for adults in Australia.

Mr Di Natale told news.com.au the current approach to drugs had been a “dismal failure” and forced “seven million ordinary Australians” to deal with criminals, while also giving power to crime syndicates.

“This is pushing the profits into the pockets of criminal syndicates and gangs, so it makes their choices riskier, it gives them the possibility of a criminal record and that prevents them from job opportunities in the future,” he said.

“It’s a dangerous choice because we’ve decided to allow the criminal syndicates to control this market rather than taking it away from the dealers and putting it in a tightly controlled health framework.”

If weed were to be legal it would not stop the selling of MDMA, cocaine, LSD and other drugs in these online marketplaces, but it would allow adults to legally purchase controlled and taxed weed from dispensaries, which takes the money from drug dealers.

According to marijuana industry analyst Tom Adams, the industry in the US took in nearly $A11.7 billion in sales in 2017 — equivalent to the entire snack bar industry.

But with weed now legal in a number of US states, Mr Adams estimates that national marijuana sales will rise to $A14.3 billion in 2018, and to $A27.4 billion in 2021.

State senator from Nevada Tick Segerblom has also praised the legalisation of weed, with the state reaping more than $A36 million in tax revenue since recreational sales started.

“It’s a great thing because the money was already being spent [when it was illegal] it’s just now being taxed,” he told CNN. “And cops don’t have to waste their time arresting users.”

Earlier research conducted by the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University found the legalisation of weed raked in $A74 million in tax in 2016, with $A29 million of that put toward marijuana-related programs to educate users.

In Australia, the federal government is strongly opposed to the idea.

Health Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News that legalising marijuana would create physical and mental health problems.

“Marijuana is a gateway drug. The risk of graduating to ice or to heroin from extended marijuana use is real and documented,” Mr Hunt told reporters in Melbourne.

“We do not believe it is safe, responsible or something which should be allowed.”

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hunt said the Greens’ cannabis policy would mean it was “open slather for a highly dangerous and addictive drug” which he said was also a “gateway to even more dangerous drugs”.

“At the very time the world is facing an opioid crisis, the Greens want to give a blank cheque for another deeply addictive and dangerous drug,” he said.

“The ridiculous Greens argument that we should give unrestricted access to drugs that are prohibited applies equally to ice and heroin, and should strike fear into the heart of every parent.”