Drug dealers use social media apps for advertising and selling their products. Prospective buyers use the apps and can easily search for drugs using codewords, emojis, hashtags, and other means. Drug traffickers also advertise using posts and stories; as quickly as accounts are shut down, a new one takes its place.
The buyer will direct message or comment on the post using code words or emojis. Conversations will then move to encrypted messaging platforms like Signal, WhatsApp, or Telegram. Once the deal is made, payment is made through Venmo, Paypal, or cryptocurrency. The packages are then shipped via standard post.
This disturbing trend becomes even worse when you realize that the majority of the drug bought this way are usually tainted with fentanyl. Unsuspecting adolescents who think they are experimenting with a non-lethal drug are in grave danger.
