Daily Mail investigation reveals that hundreds of drug dealers are using Instagram as a way to sell potent cannabis products to children in a billion-pound market.
The problem on the Facebook-owned site has mushroomed in lockdown, leading to fears of the drug causing a ‘psychosis timebomb’.
Our undercover reporters discovered that a drug baron boasted about kidnapping and cutting off the fingers for a client. He was one of the dealers who used the social media site to make millions of pounds per year.
Dealers, some with almost 30,000 followers, promote their wares with enticing pictures of cannabis packaged as children’s sweets and then arrange sales via private messaging services.
Daily Mail investigation shows that dealers use Instagram to sell cannabis products to children (Pictured). To entice them, brightly wrapped packets are used.
Our undercover reporters discovered that dealers use social media to make millions of pounds each year.
Spaceshack (pictured) advertises a string of cannabis edibles such as Lucky Charms and fruit flavoured gummies marketed with the slogan: ‘Have you ever been to space?’
The Instagram account (Pictured), which is run by a Leeds-based dealer, includes openly photos of cannabis flowers, footage from marijuana plants being grown, and adverts for potent prerolled joints in professional and marked packaging
When contacted on Instagram by Mail reporters posing as a 16-year-old, they were happy to sell, and boasted about ‘mad strains’ that would get them ‘high as f***’. One promised ‘gifts’ if they recruited their classmates as customers.
Products offered included cannabis-laced sweets with the equivalent strength of 50 joints, which police have warned causes ‘substantial harm’. The sweets have led to hundreds of children – some still in primary school – being rushed to hospital with heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, uncontrollable vomiting, paranoia and hallucinations.
Experts told the Mail that drug dealers had now ‘shifted from street corners on to social media’ because of the ease of selling online. Advertising on platforms such as Instagram gives them greater legitimacy and enables them to ‘build a brand and identity’.
One consultant psychiatrist – who welcomed the Mail’s investigation – warned that the high-strength cannabis trade ‘exploded’ during lockdown and was driving young people into ‘psychosis, depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide’.
An estimated 8 percent school pupils have used cannabis. This led to nearly 13,000 students needing treatment last yea, including more than 1,000 children 13 and under.
The UK’s illegal cannabis market is valued at between £2-2.6billion. One in four sales of cannabis were made online in 2014, when the figure was just PS2. This proportion is believed to be much higher.
Our investigation found:
- Instagram’s algorithm fuels the trade: Potential buyers looking for cannabis dealers are linked to yet more traders.
- Packaging is often designed to appeal to youngsters and features characters such as Postman Pat and Robin Hood, plus Monster Munch crisps and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
- Specialist marketing companies openly help dealers create ‘designer brands’ for their potent cannabis to maximise sales.
Brazen Instagram sites that make
SpaceshakeUK
Products offered included cannabis-laced sweets with the equivalent strength of 50 joints, which police have warned causes ‘substantial harm’
27,000 followers
Advertises a string of cannabis edibles such as Lucky Charms and fruit flavoured gummies marketed with the slogan: ‘Have you ever been to space?’
When an undercover Daily Mail reporter contacted to ask ‘what’s on the menu?’ they responded with a smiley face emoji and a link to a Telegram [an encrypted mobile messaging app] group saying: ‘Join the chat to view our menu and place orders.’ The group was filled with a dizzying array of high strength products which the administrator said was all ‘eleven out of ten’, boasting: ‘If it ain’t top shelf we ain’t selling it bro.’ After the reporter put in an order, the admin told him it was a ‘banging’ strain and said it was ‘no stress’ that the buyer was only 16 years old.
Stonechester
19,000 Followers
Experts told the Mail that drug dealers had now ‘shifted from street corners on to social media’ because of the ease of selling online
Manchester dealer, which sells pre-rolled marijuana and edibles, has posted videos featuring rappers to promote the brand.
One undercover reporter who approached the dealer was offered ultra-potent Californian cannabis strain known as ‘Cali’ and tried to sell packs of super potent ‘nerd ropes’ – children’s sweets laced with high strength cannabis which hospitalised 13 pupils at a London girls school last year.
A second reporter was offered a range of products with names like ‘Loaded Cannons’ and ‘Jet Fuel’ all available for ‘next day’ delivery after Bitcoin payment. The dealer showed no concerns when told the customer was 16 and replied: ‘You ready?’
Bezzle710
The sweets have led to hundreds of children – some still in primary school – being rushed to hospital with heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, uncontrollable vomiting, paranoia and hallucinations
14,000 followers
Openly, the Leeds-based dealer features photos of cannabis flowers, footage from marijuana plants being grown, and advertisements for potent prerolled joints in professional and marked packaging. The site described it as the ‘best UK grown weed’. One of its sellers told an undercover reporter it was cash on collection, boasting that ‘many heads want a step in the door’.
The dealer was unconcerned when told the buyer was 16, responding: ‘Shout me tomoz bro.’
LoudfamUK
8,000 Followers
The UK’s illegal cannabis market is valued at between £2-2.6billion. One in four cannabis sales were made online as early as 2014. It is believed that this proportion is much higher.
Dealers use images and footage of models in scanty clothes smoking joints to promote their businesses. ‘Loud’ is slang for extremely powerful and high strength cannabis. It also has a strong, pungent odour and has a faster, stronger effect than ‘regular’ weed.
An undercover Mail reporter, posing as a 16 year-old, contacted them. They had no hesitation about selling to a teenager. They supplied him with a Telegram messaging address and then sent a detailed menu of UK, Dutch and California cannabis which promised a ‘lovely high’. They also offered a tracked delivery in ‘smell proof’, discreet packaging.
A mother whose daughter killed herself after suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis fears ‘many more’ youngsters will die because of social media’s growing influence.
Volteface, a drug harm reduction advocacy group, Katya Kowalski stated that social media apps have made it easier for dealers to target young people through online drug sales.
She adde d: ‘They’re able to create more of a community – a friendly mechanism that doesn’t necessarily seem overwhelming or intimidating. One of the biggest problems, especially for young people, is the fact that drug dealers almost become friends.
‘The way it is branded makes them look a lot more friendly and approachable – which is a lot different to going down a dark alleyway at night to pick up.’
She said it meant drug dealing had ‘shifted from street corners onto social media’, with platforms like Instagram giving the dealer ‘more legitimacy, allowing them to build a brand and identity’.
A grieving mum’s fear for others
Kerry Head (Above) whose daughter killed herself after suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis
A mother whose daughter killed herself after suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis fears the potent strains of the drug sold on Instagram will cause ‘many more’ youngsters to die.
Kerry Head said ‘beautiful, bright and fun’ Emily Rowling became increasingly paranoid after starting to take the drug as a teenager.
Six years later, she was found dead in a Nottingham car park.
The 23 year-old thought she was Mary Magdalene after experiencing a psychotic episode.
Mrs Head, 51, stated that her daughter would have been alive today if it weren’t for cannabis. She also warned about the false security surrounding the drug.
‘Cannabis is so destructive. Psychosis can be caused by smoking it. You lose touch with reality once you are in psychosis.
‘Why would you risk that?’
Her daughter would smoke cannabis all day, resulting in a cycle of excessive smoking that would only worsen her psychosis. Her mother saw an improvement in her mental condition only after she ran out of cash and was unable buy the drug.
‘But when the money came in, the cycle started all over again,’ Mrs Head added. ‘Her paranoia became so severe that she once threw out all of the food we had bought her. She thought we were trying to poison her.’
Emily didn’t buy cannabis online. However, Mrs Head, a mortgage broker based in Ockbrook, Derbyshire is concerned about other parents now that the drug has been made available on Instagram.
‘Instagram sales could really exacerbate the risk, because children are buying stronger stuff and it’s also more readily available, she said.
‘Instagram should not be allowing dealers to advertise cannabis on their site.’
Dr Niall Campbell, one of the UK’s leading drug addiction experts based at the Priory’s hospital in south-west London, said: ‘Increasingly young people are able to buy cannabis or other drugs via the internet or social media, which is extremely worrying.
‘The mental health effects can include psychosis, depression, anxiety disorders, self-harm and suicidal behaviours.
‘This cannabis trade has exploded under lockdown, with bored teens spending hours online at home or in university halls of residence, and then in parks or with their mates when lockdown lifted.’
A Mail reporter pretending to be a 16-year old contacted a few Instagram dealers, including SpaceshakeUK. It advertises a range of cannabis edibles, such as Lucky Charms and fruit-flavoured gummies marketed with the slogan ‘have you ever been to space?’, to more than 27,000 followers.
The reporter was offered a ‘banging’ strain and told ‘no stress’ when he revealed his age.
Manchester-based Stonechester, which promotes its wares to more than 19,000 followers using videos by high-profile rappers, was happy to offer a teenager a range of high-strength cannabis with names such as ‘Loaded Cannons’ and ‘Jet Fuel’, all of which were available for ‘next day’ delivery.
LoudfamUK offers detailed menus to over 8,000 followers. It features footage and photos of models smoking joints in their bare skin. It also provides tracked delivery in ‘smell proof’ discreet packaging.
Leeds-based Bezzle710, which has 14,000 followers and claims to have the ‘best UK grown weed’, was unconcerned when told their new client was 16, responding: ‘Shout me tomoz bro.’ The Mail initially approached a sample from more than 250 Instagram accounts of suspected dealers, almost all of which have now been shut by Instagram after we alerted them.
The Mail followed these salespeople for our investigation and was immediately followed by many more suspected dealers who were also willing to sell to a teenager.
Miss Kowalski said Instagram’s algorithm works in the dealers’ favour to expand their network. It could also mean that children who don’t want to find a dealer are being followed by traders if a friend has one.
Online dealers work in different ways. In most cases, however, after being contacted via Instagram, they switch to a private messaging platform such as Telegram or Wickr.
The seller will then send you more information about the available products and the price list. After payment by Bitcoin or credit card, the cannabis is usually delivered to customers. Some prefer cash over in-person collections.
Our revelations come after Dame Carol Black’s recently published review of drugs for the Government concluded: ‘Dealers have a significant online presence, using social media to push drugs to children and young people.
‘Decisive action is needed to curtail online harm and introduce legislation which places greater responsibility on technology companies to address these issues.’ Some 12,775 under-18s needed treatment for cannabis for the year up to March 31, Public Health England found. This represented 89 percent of all children who needed treatment for drug or alcohol abuse.
Levels of THC in cannabis – the psychoactive substance which creates the ‘high’ – are now routinely 16 per cent, compared with maximums of 5 per cent in the 1960s.
Any cannabis with THC levels of over 10 per cent is known as ‘high-potency’. A 2019 study in The Lancet found that high-potency cannabis users were almost five times more likely than those who never used it to develop psychosis.
A spokesman for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said: ‘We’ve removed several of the accounts flagged to us by the Daily Mail and are continuing to investigate.
‘Buying and selling drugs is strictly against our rules and we use a combination of technology and human review to remove it.
‘Between April and June, we removed 2.3million pieces of drug sales content, over 95 per cent before it was reported to us, and we work closely with law enforcement and youth organisations to help us continually improve.
‘We’re exploring new ways to support people who search for this content in the UK, and hope to have an update soon.’
Face to face encounter with dealer called ‘The Devil.
It’s midday at a Wetherspoons in north London, and Selamet Mehmetaj sips a Coke while he calmly explains how his multimillion-pound trade of potent cannabis works.
The drug baron, whose £50,000 Mercedes-Benz without a front number plate is parked nearby, has agreed to meet potential new clients after they contacted him via the anonymous Instagram page that advertises his business.
The 28-year-old, who is not bothered by passers-by in the busy Wood Green town center, explains how he supplies dealers throughout the UK with 2,500 cannabis plants of high strength and harvests marijuana for them to sell.
And he makes very clear what happens to those who dare to cross him, matter-of-factly boasting how he chopped off two fingers of one client who failed to pay – and got his money before he chopped off a foot.
Selamet Mehmetaj (drug baron) is a notorious dealer
The drug baron, whose £50,000 Mercedes-Benz without a front number plate is parked nearby, has agreed to meet potential new clients after they contacted him via the anonymous Instagram page that advertises his business.
Mehmetaj, who is from the northern Albanian town of Tropoja, has developed a thriving drugs empire in the UK – and a social media following to promote it
Meet ‘The Devil’, a wholesale drug-dealer who is making millions. Mehmetaj, whose Instagram account is called ‘Albanian Blood,’ has posted videos and photos to show off his cannabis factories, as well as videos to highlight the strains available. This encourages new customers to get in touch.
After being contacted by Daily Mail, Instagram removed the page.
The page was still available, but undercover Mail journalists posing to be customers got in touch via the social media app.
Mehmetaj met them at his Palmers Green home. During the meeting, he:
- He claimed that he avoided a firearms charge despite police discovering a Russian gun he had smuggled into Albania from Albania. The gun was hidden in his car. His solicitor had made up a story to claim the gun wasn’t his.
- Splurged the cash from his illicit business on a bling lifestyle including a £50,000 Mercedes-Benz CLA AMG, an Audi RS7 – which he drives at over 200mph on motorways using fake plates – and a Formula 3 car for off-road racing.
- He laughed as he recounted how police failed to find one room in his five-bedroom home and missed a stash cocaine, cannabis, and bullets.
Mehmetaj, who is from the northern Albanian town of Tropoja, has developed a thriving drugs empire in the UK – and a social media following to promote it.
His Instagram page Gjak Shqipez (which means Albanian Blood) was deleted. However, his other pages which do not promote cannabis remain active.
An undercover reporter reached out to the Albanian Blood account to inquire about buying cannabis wholesale. He was then willing to meet him at a cafe.
He arrived in his Mercedes-Benz CLAAMG blacked-out Mercedes-Benz CLA, AMG, and he explained how his business had boomed because everyone was home.
Mehmetaj explained how every month he grows up to 2,500 cannabis plants – which he calls his ‘babies’ – including high strength ‘stardog’ and the super-potent ‘wedding cake’.
He said he sells each plant for £10-15 in batches of up to 300, and boxes of harvested cannabis by the kilogram. Mehmetaj claims that the business makes him millions each year, but the plants, when sold to dealers, would be worth tens, if not hundreds, of millions of pounds.
He stated that’many people’ call him for orders. He added: ‘Today, they called me and somebody wanted 200, somebody want 300. I have people who will take every month from me to stock their warehouses.
Mehmetaj explained that Instagram played an important role in advertising his company. He said that no one knew he was behind Albanian Blood page, which had nearly 1,000 followers.
He posted links and photos from his account to another Instagram page that had 12,000 followers to drive traffic. This more popular page features his cars and cash, mocks police and links to Gangster Love, the rap video he stars. You can also find other rap songs he’s produced under the name Memz on Spotify and Apple Music.
He said that he is called “the Devil” online because “that’s what they call him.” He stated that he shared his opinion. [Albanian Blood links]I got the idea from my huge Instagram. Everyone knows me so they saw the page. Many people were interested and said, “Yeah, it’s worth it!”
After clients had contacted him through Albanian Blood, he took their details and made arrangements to meet in person. This is much safer than sending messages via the internet. He warned that if someone violates his trust, it’s going to be very bad. He claimed that his gang took the client to a meeting by using a mutual friend to lure him. Mehmetaj explained that Mehmetaj took the client from Stoke-on-Trent all-the way to London. There, I beat him up three times daily, and he wouldn’t give me any other options. “I told him that you have 24 hours to make a call, find the money anywhere on this planet, and I don’t care.
He claimed he also called the man’s family, and said: ‘I have cut two of his fingers. Next, he will have to remove his foot.
When he eventually paid, Mehmetaj told him: ‘This should be a scar in your life and a reminder to what happens when you f*** about someone who’s true.’
He continued, “I did this to that guy, then I went into the evening and I slept as a baby.” I didn’t care.
“My stress was that until I got him, I couldn’t get to sleep.
“My stress was that I had to have him in mine.” He will never have a chance if he isn’t in my hands.
Mehmetaj has also posted disturbing Facebook videos in March warning of his violence. One shows a man who is bleeding from the face after being hit in the back by the car. The accompanying comment reads: “This is what happens if you try to steal our stuff.”
Another violent video taken in February shows a man held captive in his house while being slapped.
The warning is expletive-filled.
One of his Instagram posts, titled “Albanian Blood”, included a picture featuring a hooded guy. The caption read: “We caught this burglar in the cannabis house.
‘The Albanian put the man in a car, and then he cut him up. What do you think?
Mehmetaj also revealed to the reporter that he was detained in April 2020 after police discovered a Russian PK-machine gun hidden under his Mercedes-Benz’s gearbox. He said that he was released after 48 hours, partly because he had never used gloves to handle the gun. He claimed it was hidden in the car, which he didn’t know he owned since acquiring it in 2018.
He added: ‘However, they arrested the guy who sold it to me… I think he’s gunna get five years.’
He posted a picture to Instagram showing him holding a gun in front of his car.
He said that police had turned his house upside-down during the Russian gun investigation. He said that they searched the wrong place and found a stash of drugs, cannabis, and bullets.
In describing his lifestyle, he boasted of his cars and stated that he drove his Audi RS7 at 230 mph on M1. In one Instagram video, he drives his Mercedes-Benz at 140 mph. He avoids speeding penalties by using fake plates that he frequently changes.
He roared off in the Mercedes-Benz he had rented, jumping a red light despite a nearby police car.
His social media accounts show more evidence of his mocking of the law. He posted footage on Facebook that a friend took of him being searched and searched by police for a strong smell of cannabis coming from his car.
He also added a number of funny emojis to his post, and the comment: “Hey chief, I do not have hashish within my car.” He also uploaded another video that was taken in the same month. In it, he mocks police as he drives by officers involved in a motorway collision.
Mehmetaj declined comment.
Scotland Yard was notified about Mehmetaj, and we have offered to share more information.
“I cut off his fingers, and slept like I was a baby.”
Undercover Mail reporters contacted ‘the Devil’ on his Instagram site, posing as potential clients. He agreed to meet near his north London home, where he explained how he ran his business – and warned what happened to those who crossed him.
For the client who has not paid:
“My guys put him into a van. Guess what? I took him from Stoke-on-Trent down to London. I beat him up three times daily, but he didn’t want me to give up, so I cut off two fingers.
‘I said this should be a scar in your life and a reminder to what happens when you f*** about someone who’s true.’
“It was a joke, I did that to him then I went to bed and slept like a baby. I didn’t care.
“My stress was that I couldn’t sleep until I got him. My stress was that he had to be in my hands.
“Once he has in my hand, he is out of luck.”
On his firearms arrest
“They found in my Mercedes, they discovered a gun.”
“I was arrested. I was only in jail for 48 hours before I was released.
“The problem is that they didn’t find anything linking me with it, fingerprints.
“Whenever I touched it, I had something in my hands every time.”
After his arrest, he searched the apartment.
“They turned it upside down, and they didn’t find anything.
‘But underneath – they put the dog upstairs – it was another room underneath, underneath I had white [cocaine]I had green [cannabis]I had bullets. They did not find any of it, I swear.
On his Instagram page ‘Albanian Blood,’ he advertises cannabis
“No one knows that it’s me, and that’s just the stupidest thing.”
‘I posted it out there… and many people were interested, of course, [saying]’Yeah, it’s what we want to purchase’.
[Reporter]Why is Instagram so great for advertising?
Advertising? Grow yourself.
On his cannabis farm, and sales:
“Round here, there’s a place where I make… there will be 2,000 to 2,500 babies [cannabis plants]Every single time, as a month.
“I have people that come every two to three months and they get for their warehouses, then they come and get the houses.
“If you take this to Liverpool a kilo will go even like five-five [£5,500].
“This is a caramel wedding cake.” [a highly potent strain of cannabis]?.
Although his Instagram account, Gjak Shqipez which means Albanian Blood was deleted, his other pages that do not promote marijuana are still active