Methamphetamine police said they had seized in February 2023. Photo: Supplied/ Police
Gangs have increased control of the methamphetamine market in Northland and the South Island, a new survey has found.
New Zealand Drugs Trends Survey was completed by more than 13,000 New Zealanders between August 2022 and February this year.
Research leader Chris Wilkins said the highest levels of meth being purchased from a gang member are in Northland, Canterbury, Nelson and Marlborough.
He said the high level of gang selling in the South Island may be the result of established North Island gangs reportedly expanding meth markets in the south to take advantage of higher prices.
The survey found 41 percent of respondents in Northland reported buying from a gang member, with 39 percent in Canterbury and 38 percent in Tasman/ Nelson and Marborough.
Wilkins also said new gangs formed by 501 deportees in the South Island were using international connections to provide new sources of meth supply.
The survey found rising drug purchasing from social media and messaging apps.
Researcher Robin van der Sanden said these markets were taking advantage of social networking apps that featured self-deleting messages and encryption to organise transactions between buyers and sellers.
For cannabis purchasing, the NZDTS showed there were higher levels of people buying from gangs and drug houses in the East Coast and Central North Island.
"Cannabis markets are traditionally known for their low social impact, generally involving private transactions among people who know each other," Wilkins said.
"In contrast, the sale of cannabis via gang-controlled 'tinny' houses increases the risk of victimisation and inter-gang violence".
A significant minority of NZDTS respondents reported experiencing victimisation while purchasing drugs in the past six months, including receiving fake and unsafe drugs.
Finally, a small group of repondents reported purchasing drug types like MDMA and psychedelics from encrypted 'darknet' websites with cryptocurrency, like bitcoin.
"That technology is transforming how people get drugs now" - Massey University associate professor Chris Wilkins
Wilkins told Morning Report the survey found the gangs appear to be much more involved in the retail end of the drug trade.
"Drug users are buying directly from a gang member.
"We might be aware that gangs are involved in trafficking and importation but it was quite surprising for us to see they were so involved at the retail end."
On people getting drugs through online messaging apps, Wilkins said social media was transforming drug markets and opening up access to young people.
He said the buying and selling of drugs used to be a market that people connected to in person but now drugs could be accessed through messaging apps like Facebook Messenger or Discord.
"Inevitably you have to go to the physical location to pick up drugs and sometimes because it's so easy [to] put a post into Discord saying that you have drugs, there are opportunities for scams and victimisation."
The purpose of the survey was to assist health, prevention and information policy around drug markets in New Zealand, he said.