New Zealand drug dealers have been openly advertising the sale of class A drugs on Facebook Marketplace amid claims its US owner Meta has failed to act on requests from users to remove the illegal listings.
It was only after the Herald made inquiries about why ads marketing the sale of drugs like magic mushrooms were so prolific that Meta removed the listings and initiated a review.
The New Zealand Drug Foundation says it’s ironic considering its own Health New Zealand-funded drug safety ads are regularly flagged by Meta as problematic.
In a single day, the Herald found 56 different ads for psychedelic mushrooms – a class A controlled drug – being promoted for sale all over the North Island, including Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and the Tasman district.
The Herald also saw ads for cannabis and what appeared to be LSD.
The publicly accessible ads, most of which show images of vacuum-packed plastic bags of dried mushrooms or mushroom caps packaged inside chocolate bar wrappers, invite users to connect with the seller on the encrypted messaging app Telegram where a “full menu” of products is supplied.
One full menu seen by the Herald offered the advertised psychedelics, as well as many other drugs like cocaine, MDMA, LSD, and ketamine.
A Bay of Plenty man who asked to remain anonymous told the Herald he made “hundreds” of reports to Meta notifying them of suspect accounts over several weeks.
He claimed the listings remained active and the only response he got was an automated reply thanking him for making Facebook Marketplace a safer place to trade.
“I can’t believe it’s happening,” he said.
The Herald’s informant said he felt compelled to complain to Meta after a family friend was admitted to hospital after overdosing on mushrooms.
“He was seriously ill, in a coma for several days, and his parents actually thought they might lose him.”
Given the number of ads and drug quantities pictured, the Herald’s informant believed many sellers were running “commercial” operations.
The Marketplace listings offer discreet pick up or delivery of drugs and the Herald’s source believed that given the blatant way they were sold on an open platform it put children at risk.
“Anyone can look on Marketplace, whether you’re 10 years old or 50 years old,” he said.
He claims the situation became even more absurd when - while the ads peddling drugs stayed online despite his complaints - he was sanctioned by Meta when trying to sell an old dart board.
“Within a few days of putting it on Facebook Marketplace, I was sent a warning that I was trying to sell a dangerous weapon,” he said.
He said he believes Meta’s systems were failing.
“When you can be flagged and threatened for trying to sell a dartboard and yet drugs are openly being sold, it just doesn’t make sense.”
A Meta spokeswoman said the company acted after inquiries from the Herald and deleted the offending ads.
“Our escalations team has removed many Facebook Marketplace ads because of your inquiry and is continuing to review further,” the spokeswoman said.
The New Zealand Drug Foundation has also faced problems with Meta flagging its drug safety content as problematic.
The foundation is contracted by Health New Zealand to provide drug checking clinics, promote harm reduction and addiction support information, and support schools with student wellbeing.
Executive director Sarah Helm told the Herald it’s not right that drugs can be openly listed for sale while public health information is flagged and disallowed.
“We know the algorithms actually suppress some of our content” she said.
She said fatalities from psilocybin mushrooms are “extremely rare” but misidentification of mushrooms and taking the wrong species can have “real risks”.
“I would encourage people if they’ve purchased any illicit drug ... to come to a drug checking clinic and get their substance checked,” she said.
The latest drug trends survey from researchers at Massey University noted a rise in social media being used to purchase all types of drugs, particularly MDMA and cannabis.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, was unable to say why the listings were only taken down when the Herald made inquiries.
The tech company said it enforces its policies - including a prohibition against the promotion or sale of illegal drugs - through a combination of reports from users, human review and artificial intelligence.
It’s not clear what happened following the reports filed by the Herald’s source, or if a human or robot reviewed the complaints.
A Meta spokesperson said “numerous” offending ads had now been deleted.
“Meta has removed numerous Facebook Marketplace ads promoting the sale of illicit drugs for violating our Community Standards. We will continue to proactively detect and enforce against these types of listings,” a spokeswoman said.
Meta has also recently updated its community standards to prevent precursor chemicals that could be used to make drugs being sold and said any violation involving the sale of drugs including fentanyl, cocaine or heroin, will result in accounts being disabled.
Facebook reported making $7.59m in New Zealand last year, which was a dip in profits on previous years.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.