Michael Morrah speaks to a man who says buying drugs on private Facebook groups is easier than making an online grocery order.
Criminals are using code words to sell handguns, shotguns and assault rifles on private social media groups in a trading system one man says is “like shopping on Temu”.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kepal Richards from the national criminal investigation group told the Herald the illegal sale of firearms on social media platforms is “extremely concerning”, and believes drug dealers are employing marketing tactics to target young people.
A former social media drug buyer, who still has underworld connections, claimed the number of private Facebook groups offering all sorts of illegal items has taken off.
“You’re looking at assault rifles, shotguns, modified shotguns, handguns. In the early stages [of social media gun sales], you have people with catalogues of what you’re after. They just put up code words,” he told the Herald.
The Herald’s contact, who asked not to be identified, said code words like “hairclip”, “clip” or “bunny” are used to advertise and discuss firearms online in an attempt to avoid scrutiny from police and detection by social media companies.
He said bunny is slang for a firearm because of the idea that “you make them jump” when a round is fired.
He said most firearms he’d seen advertised appeared to have had serial numbers filed off which he believed meant they were stolen.
Richards said police were aware of both regular firearms and the 3D printed variety being sold on social media.
However, he said just because trading occurred on closed groups using encrypted messaging, that didn’t mean buyers and sellers were untouchable.
“It [social media] is a platform where offenders think they may have some more anonymity and be able to sell these firearms without the risk of being caught. But again, what I want to remind the community is, we do have a presence in this space,” he said.
The Herald’s contact was sceptical about whether police could infiltrate closed groups, and said claims by social media companies that they prohibit illegal sales and monitor users’ activity was “garbage”.
He said the most prolific site for drug and firearms sales was via closed groups on Facebook where a prospective buyer had to be “vouched” into the group by another member before they were allowed to communicate via Messenger with the seller.
He wasn’t aware of anyone being caught and claimed one of his contacts had been actively selling cannabis and methamphetamine via Facebook for more than a decade.
“There’s no one there observing the conversations. Everything is just free for all. You can be so open,” he said.
He used to buy cannabis oil and MDMA on Facebook and said the process is more reliable than ordering your weekly shopping.
Richards says new drugs are also emerging for sale on social media sites in New Zealand like the opiate-laced fizzy drink known as “lean” or “purple drank”.
Lean is a cocktail of codeine and antihistamine which is mixed with soda and hard-boiled lollies to make the concoction more palatable.
Hip hop DJ Robert Earl Davis – better known as DJ Screw – died after overdosing on lean in 2000 aged 29 years old.
Lean has been used as a recreational drug since the 1960s but Richards said use of it is now starting to be seen in New Zealand.
“We’re seeing some emerging drugs. I think a common one is known as lean or purple drank. We’re seeing more of a prevalence of that in New Zealand, through pop culture and social media. There are some artists that talk about it in songs,” Richards said.
He said it was part of a wider trend where the quantities and types of drugs peddled on social media were expanding.
“We’re seeing an increase in the variety and volume of drugs for sale online, not just cannabis and prescription medications. It goes right through to cocaine and methamphetamine,” he said.
Richards was also concerned about dealers’ frequent use of emojis which he believed was a direct attempt to target young people.
The Herald’s contact said some of the dealers he knew refused to sell to children.
“One good thing with a lot of the dealers or for the people I deal with is they won’t sell to youths. They won’t just give it [drugs] to a 10 or 11-year-old,” he said.
Richards doubted that was the case.
“These people have no regard for who they may be harming in the community. This is all about their own profit and their own gains,” he said.
Richards said police worked closely with a number of social media companies and although they were not bound by New Zealand laws they were “very receptive” to requests for information.
“We wouldn’t be able to investigate some of these offences without them,” he said.
Meta, which owns Facebook, has previously told the Herald, attempting to buy, sell or trade drugs is not allowed on Facebook or Instagram, regardless of state or country law.
The company said it enforces its policies by relying on user reports, human reviews, and artificial intelligence and it blocks and filters hundreds of terms associated with illicit drug sales.
Advocacy group B416, which wants social media banned for under 16-year-olds was sceptical of Meta’s claims.
B416 co-chair Anna Curzon said the group did not have confidence in social media companies’ systems telling the Herald enforcement is “inconsistent” and platforms are not being designed with child safety as the top priority.
Curzon said she’s particularly concerned about marketing techniques like the use of emojis and slang.
“These tactics are highly effective in bypassing parental oversight and normalising risky behaviour for younger audiences. They are a deliberate attempt to appeal to and recruit young customers,” she said.
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.