Wannabe teenage gangsters in the Northern Territory post histories of crime on social media

WANNABE teenage gangsters are posting photos on social media of themselves brandishing weapons, smoking drugs and boasting about stolen items.

TEENAGE wannabe “gangsters” have been posting to social media showing themselves covered in wads of cash, brandishing weapons, smoking drugs and boasting about apparently stolen items in their possession.

A teen poses with a machete at Palmerston Bus Interchange. Picture: Facebook

In one photograph, a teen is posing at the Palmerston Bus Interchange with a machete.

The same teen poses in other photographs with a handgun, axes, bongs and what appears to be a bag of drugs.

Another boy is photographed with packs of cigarettes he supposedly “blitzed” and in another he is covered with $50 bills while sitting beside a carton of Pauls Iced Coffee.

READ: ELDER CALLS FOR PARENTS TO PAY FOR KID CRIME

The baby-faced “gangsters”, who the NT News has chosen not to name, make references to notorious US-based gang the Bloods.

Despite living about as far from Los Angeles as possible, they also pose with “westside” hand gestures.

The brazen posts are not short of “likes” from friends and comments such as “sick pic bruzz”.

However, one has warned: “Evidence bro remove the tag n write something else cus. I don’t want yas getting caught.”

A teen poses for a selfie with a bag of what appears to be marijuana. Picture: Facebook

Some of the public photos go back at least two years and appear to be evidence of long criminal histories.

NT Police were asked to comment on the photos but did not respond to questions.

It remains unknown if police have ever taken action against the teens.

However, the photos have come back to bite one teen, who has been receiving violent threats on a widely used Darwin-based Facebook page.

Users have re-posted some of the images on that page and accused the teen of stealing, which he has denied on the page.

The original post from Monday has more than 1000 comments, most of them mocking the teen or making threats of harm.

READ: YOUNG CRIMINALS STEAL CARS TO PROVOKE POLICE INTO HIGH-SPEED CHASES

One angry user told the teen he would visit his house, while another user provided the address of the home and the location of the teen’s bedroom within it.

NT Police would not confirm if it would offer the teen protection in light of the social media threats.

Police have previously spoken of young criminals taunting officers into car chases and behaving as though Darwin and Palmerston were locations in the violent video game series Grand Theft Auto.

Last year, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Stringer told the NT News: “You catch them, they get bail and then they’re back out on the streets reoffending.”

Official police crime statistics, released monthly, do not break down offenders by age, but indicate that property crime is up 23 per cent in Palmerston and 8.9 per cent in Darwin for the year ending November 30.