Pharmacy-grade Xanax is being sold openly on Instagram

Pharmacy-grade Xanax was being openly sold on social media last night – hours after a Daily Mail investigation revealed that chemists are diverting drugs to the black market.

Reporters contacting drug dealers online were offered ‘next-day delivery’ of dangerous and highly addictive prescription-only medication.

Dealers claimed to offer ‘discreet’ postage of Xanax tablets branded with the name of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer – identical to medication available in British pharmacies.

It comes after the Mail exposed rogue pharmacists acting like ‘street drug dealers’ for illegally peddling medication which is being abused in schools and universities by vulnerable teenagers.

One pharmacist in central London, Anatolijus Kostiukevicius, sold Xanax and the highly addictive painkiller tramadol to an undercover reporter without a prescription. Both drugs are Class C controlled substances. Withdrawal symptoms from Xanax can include psychosis, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Yesterday, the General Pharmaceutical Council referred Mr Kostiukevicius, 53, to the Metropolitan Police. His boss at Al Razi Pharmacy confirmed he had been suspended from work, calling his actions ‘unacceptable and intolerable.’

But last night drug dealers were operating in plain sight on the photo-sharing app Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Within seconds of being contacted by a reporter posing as a buyer, the owner of one account said he could deliver Xanax the following day after receiving payment via a bank transfer.

Another seller moved the conversation to the encrypted messaging app Wickr, preferred by dealers because messages are deleted after a period of time. He provided a ‘menu’ of ‘certified’ drugs such as Xanax, including bulk-buy offers such as 1,000 tablets for £600. Instagram did not respond to a request for comment.

Dealers claimed to offer ‘discreet’ postage of Xanax tablets branded with the name of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (file photo)