Criminal World Keeps Mastering Technology: How Telegram Became the Main Platform for Drug Dealers and How Other Social Networks Fight Them

Ukraine is no exception.

Ukraine has created a chatbot that helped police block the work of more than 200 drug shops. In recent years, Telegram has become the main platform for selling drugs. We explain why this happened, who is behind it, and how modern technology helps fight drug trafficking in other countries. 

Why Telegram Has Become the Main Platform for Selling Drugs

The first thing any business needs to build is communication. Choosing a safe and proven way to communicate is very important for drug dealers. In Ukraine, the most popular messenger for such purposes is Telegram. 

In many cities, graffiti with addresses of Telegram channels or bots for buying drugs can be found on building walls. But the main factor is that the messenger has secret chats and traffic encryption, including for transmitted files. 

The messenger is also used to recruit new “cladmen” (those who hide drug stashes that buyers later look for). By the way, thanks to modern technology, the client gets the exact location of the goods and does not have to search the entire yard.  

How a Telegram Bot Helped the Interior Ministry Block More Than 200 Drug Shops

In four months of operation of the StopNarkotik Telegram chatbot, Ukrainian law enforcement, with its help, blocked 214 drug shop addresses on the messenger.

The bot was created by staff of Faculty No. 4 (cyber police) of the Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs and presented in September 2019. Users can send the bot photos of graffiti with “drug addresses,” coordinates of drug sales points in settlements, addresses of websites and Telegram channels, and complain about channels, chats and bots that sell drugs.

During the chatbot’s operation, users sent in 4,769 images, 7,318 Telegram addresses and 811 website addresses for verification. Law enforcement blocked 214 Telegram “shop” addresses through which drugs were distributed. Six of them operated in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Who Sells Drugs on Telegram and Why 

On condition of anonymity, we managed to speak with one of the drug sellers on Telegram. Andrei (name changed) is 27 years old and has been doing this since 2017. He says his income is about 20,000–30,000 hryvnias a month. The guy’s job is not hard: 

“You have to be in touch, answer customers’ messages, and contact suppliers and cladmen. From suppliers, I find out what goods are in stock and tell the client. If it suits him, he says in which district it is more convenient for him to pick up the goods. Then I agree with the cladman, he leaves the goods and sends their location. I forward it to the client. Of course, before the cladman starts his work, the client pays the full amount in advance.” 

Andrei notes that there are no guarantees for the client that they will receive their goods. “Some businesses are built entirely on this. You promote your platform or bot, people write to you and transfer money, and you ban them and that’s it. They can’t do anything to you. Are they really going to go to the police? And cryptocurrencies are used for transactions, so everything is anonymous and nobody can find you,” he says. 

Cryptocurrencies Provide Anonymity for Transactions 

One of the main advantages of cryptocurrencies is anonymity, which drug dealers value highly. The buyer does not know who they are paying for the goods, and it is impossible to identify the seller. Moreover, cladmen do not meet with curators but pick up the goods at an agreed place, and they also receive payment in cryptocurrency. Law enforcement agencies around the world are fighting this problem today. 

How Modern Technology Helps Fight Drugs Worldwide

Now the US uses artificial intelligence that displays and analyzes IoT sensor data to identify movement patterns, smuggling and examples of drug trafficking. 

The system automatically detects whether people have weapons, are carrying oversized backpacks or bags with drugs, whether children are present, or even whether there are dangerous or endangered animal species in the area. 

“Thanks to this capability, we have been able to transform a previously labor-intensive task that required us to check every single image. Now we can evaluate thousands of images a day,” says FBI employee Patrick Stewart.   

Facebook and Instagram Use AI to Identify Drug Dealers

Facebook and Instagram have started using artificial intelligence that allows platforms to remove images related to drugs before users see them or report them.

“Our technology is able to detect content that includes images of drugs, attempts to sell them, and so on,” said Kevin Martin, head of US public policy at Facebook.

He said this has freed moderators from having to review pages, groups and hashtags that may be related to drug use, as well as analyze trends. This practice emerged when social media platforms announced the creation of a new group, Tech Together, to fight the opioid crisis in the US, which also includes Google and Twitter.

The companies are also working with experts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham to track new tactics used by dealers and new drug names. 

AI will also flag people who search for drug-related content and pass their data to American charities focused on drug addiction and mental health.

Alexey Simonchuk