Shoppers at online drug store get robbed, bashed by thugs

CROOKS using a controversial drug-dealing website that masquerades as a vegetable store are becoming the victims of their own crimes.

CROOKS using a controversial drug-dealing website that masquerades as a vegetable store are becoming the victims of their own crimes.

The Sunday Herald Sun has learned thieves are bashing and robbing people buying drugs off the Facebook group, where members use vegetable names as code words to buy and sell illicit substances.

One “victim” told how she was robbed at knifepoint ­during a drug deal organised through the group.

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They met near a hostel in Melbourne’s CBD before the thug unleashed.

The woman said: “He took us around behind (the) hostel and put a knife to my friend’s throat, took our stuff, then grabbed me by the shirt and threw me to the ground.

“He told us to run the other way and said, ‘Follow me and I’ll kill you’.’’

The Facebook group — still operating despite attracting controversy — is an online marketplace where users advertise or request either illicit drugs or prescription medication in a certain area.

Codewords include “broccoli” to request or offer cannabis and “light salad dressing” to refer to LSD.

Users then contact each other privately, often through encrypted messaging services such as Wicker, to organise a place to meet and exchange cash for drugs.

Thieves are bashing and robbing people buying drugs off a Facebook group where members use vegetable names as code words to buy and sell illicit substances.

But some users are robbing other members of cash and drugs when they meet.

Victims of armed robberies have frequently posted to the group about their ­experiences, naming the ­accounts of people who robbed them in an effort to warn other members.

One victim said after posting about a user who robbed her, she was contacted by at least four others who had also been robbed at knifepoint.

An unnamed member of staff at the city hostel where deals have turned violent said she was aware of a guest staying at the property who had been involved in the robberies.

“He came back one night and there were some people following him,’’ the staff member said.

“I watched him get hit with a plank of wood on the CCTV.

“He took refuge here until morning and then we kicked him out. He’s banned now.”

It is unclear whether the incident was reported to police.

Victoria Police advised it was not actively looking into the online vegetables group, but was aware of a number of websites facilitating the traffic of illegal substances.

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