Ottawa residents buy illegal drugs online via social media ads, with deliveries made through Canada Post, raising concerns about addiction and enforcement
Online Drug Purchases in Canada
It’s like Amazon for hard drugs: cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy, paid for with credit cards and e-transfers, delivered by Canada Post.
For weeks, CBC Ottawa and Radio-Canada exchanged messages with nearly a dozen people who have been buying these drugs online. Eventually, one came forward to discuss their experience.
“The first time I was like, OK, it’s not true, it’s a scam,” John said. CBC has agreed to withhold his real name because he fears the impact of his drug use on his family and his job.
Social Media Ads for Drugs
“You go on the website and it’s very easy.” Ads offering pure cocaine began appearing on Facebook and Instagram, featuring images of white powder. Soon, social media feeds were flooded with them.
These narcotics are highly addictive and illegal, but the ads assure potential buyers that the drugs are tested and safely delivered.
A man CBC is calling John has battled addiction in the past but said he hadn’t used drugs in years until he saw ads for cocaine on social media.
John’s Experience with Cocaine
For John, it meant a drug he had been addicted to was suddenly within easy reach. “My relationship with this drug [is] love-hate,” he said. “The cocaine in a certain way destroyed this dream. One of these dreams was to become a cop.”
John had successfully kicked his addiction until he saw the ads. “So you have this ad, it looks professional. You go on the website and it’s very easy. It’s like on Amazon. You have many drugs, and you have cocaine,” he said. “I was like, it’s unbelievable to see this on social media.”
He ordered a few grams of cocaine after clicking on an ad. Soon, he had a Canada Post tracking number. Days later, he received a message that his package had arrived.
Receiving and Testing the Drug
“I go to the mailbox. I opened the package and I was like, OK, it’s real. It’s real stuff, it’s real cocaine,” he said. John tried the drug right away and said it felt pure. “I don’t know if it’s 70, 80, 90 per cent, but I know it’s good stuff,” he said.
His experience matches that of many others with whom CBC has interacted online. The Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse and Addiction warns that cocaine use is very dangerous and can lead to stroke, coma, and in some cases, death.
The added danger is that the drug can be tainted with fentanyl.
Drug Testing Process
John decided to have his next purchase tested. A team from Radio-Canada accompanied him to pick up the delivery from his Canada Post community mailbox. Both Radio-Canada and CBC Ottawa were present when the contents were tested at a specialized harm reduction clinic in Quebec.
Maude Choinière, a social worker at the clinic, said more people are bringing in drugs bought online after seeing ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. “We’ve known about it for a while, so we thought it was pretty much common knowledge,” Choinière said.
John’s sample tested positive for cocaine, but no fentanyl was detected.
Online Drug Market Insights
CBC spoke to buyers who left reviews on the sites where they purchased drugs. Some were less worried about deadly additives in drugs bought online. Others felt it reduced the chances of getting caught making a drug deal in public.
CBC Ottawa found hundreds of ads leading to over a dozen different websites selling illegal drugs. The websites operate openly, but their digital infrastructure is complex.
CBC’s Visual Investigations Unit (VIU) examined the websites to track their digital footprint. “They use all the tools,” said Ivan Angelovski, a forensic analyst with the VIU. “You can see that they basically created a wall that open-source researchers and journalists cannot open.”
Meta’s Response to Drug Ads
The drug ads appear on social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook, owned by Meta. Meta refused an interview request from CBC but responded via email. “Content that attempts to buy, sell or trade illicit drugs is not allowed on our platforms,” the spokesperson wrote.
Scott Roth, CEO of LegitScript, said, “The scale is absolutely massive in terms of how many advertisements are being placed on these platforms on any given day.” He added that it’s a constant fight against these ads.
Canada Post’s Role
The Canada Post Corporation Act gives Canada Post the authority to inspect mail suspected of containing illegal items. Canada Post sent CBC an emailed statement, saying, “When our Postal Inspectors confirm that an item contains an illegal drug, they remove the item from the mail stream and turn it over to the police.”
In 2024, Canada Post removed 5,662 illegal items from a total of 240 million parcels.
RCMP’s Investigation Efforts
CBC spoke to six police officers from different departments with experience in drug investigations. None had heard about these sites operating on the open web. The RCMP stated, “We are actively targeting individuals and networks profiting from the sale of illicit substances online.”
John’s Decision to Destroy the Drugs
John opted to have the cocaine he purchased destroyed. “For me, it’s what I had to do to really liberate myself from this drug,” he said. He noted that seeing the ads repeatedly on social media made it difficult to stay away from drugs.
