Gang members robbing and assaulting people using online app to buy drugs
Sunday, 13 December 2020
A man attempting to buy cannabis was hit around the head with a metal object and robbed of his money in Wellington’s central city earlier this month – just one of least 10 serious “standover” type incidents involving drug deals, police say.
Many of the attacks appear to involve the use of the app Discord and offenders believed to be gang members. But police say they think not all incidents are being reported and are calling for more victims to come forward and speak with them.
People who may be committing low-level offences were afraid to report that they had become a victim of more serious offending, especially when they were gang-related, as they were concerned they would be prosecuted, said Detective Sergeant Steve Wescott.
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“For police, the most important thing is that the serious offending is addressed and that we prevent further harm to others,” he said. “If someone is offending against you, they may be offending against others.”
Wescott said police could use their discretion when necessary for a victim to admit low-level offending, while reporting more serious offending.
The incidents reported were mainly in central city suburbs, Newtown and northern suburbs. In some cases, weapons – including firearms – were used to threaten victims. Many but not all appear to be linked to gangs.
Discord, a group chatting app largely used in the gaming community, is used across New Zealand, particularly in Wellington, for buying and selling illicit drugs.
Users can create an account and be added to channels where sellers offer various class A to C drugs, pharmaceuticals and drug paraphernalia.
Users can use nicknames in order to protect their identities and are easily able to change their usernames.
A Discord spokesman said the app was used by millions of people every day and had zero-tolerance for illegal activity.
“When we are alerted to an issue, we investigate and take action, including banning users, shutting down servers and, when appropriate, reporting to law enforcement entities.
“We support the Wellington district police department’s call for victims to come forward and encourage those who witness any users or servers violating our community guidelines or participating in illegal activity to contact us.”
Police monitor the app, along with other social media websites. But users on the app are attempting to police the recent incidents themselves.
A server has been created called Safer Communities Together by an account with the name Wellington District Police. Police said they had no association to the account but were aware of it.
Users on the server were attempting to ban people they suspected of the stand-over type activity.
High-profile cannabis activist Abe Gray said the incidents were a clear example of the harm caused by the prohibition of the drug .
“No-one is going to meet someone in an alleyway to buy anything if it is available on the legal market. You can't issue consumer complaints on the black market either,” he said.
“The other thing with Discord is that it is not how your mum or grandma used to buy cannabis and certainly not me. For young people, they are going to find a way, so we really have to decouple cannabis from the black market to keep them safe,” he said.
Wellingtonians voted overwhelmingly in favour of the cannabis control and legalisation referendum in October. Wellington Central had the highest support for legalisation of any electorate in the country, with 73 per cent voting in favour, while 65 per cent of Rongotai voters wanted the bill to pass.