Drug Suppliers Shift to Snapchat for Secrecy as Authorities Intensify Surveillance

Hyderabad: With increased surveillance on their social media activities, drug suppliers, peddlers and even consumers have moved to Snapchat, an instant messaging application. Statng this, investigators also said that the mode of transporting drugs from Goa and Bengaluru was shifting from the road to the air.

Snapchat is said to be more secure and private for texting. The risk of someone snooping on a person on Snapchat is said to be way lower because of the way the platform is constructed.

Investigations of the Cyberabad police and the TS Narcotics Bureau (TS-NAB) into recent cases have revealed that the peddlers, after collecting supplies from the main sources have begun communicating on Snapchat.

Upon arrival in the city airport, they inform their clients on Snapchat. The drugs are delivered before noon, and the peddlers return to Goa and Bengaluru by nightfall. In some instances, the peddlers were found to be travelling to the city by road and then flying back to base.

Sources said the peddlers had begun flying to the city as there were relatively fewer checks on domestic passengers. “We have reports that they are able to easily carry with them up to 5 grams of synthetic drugs from these two cities without much trouble,” an investigator told Deccan Chronicle.

Investigators said they were not only stepping up surveillance, including on social media, but were also deploying decoys to try and hoodwink the peddlers. “We are constantly coordinating with various wings and other enforcement agencies and sharing information and actionable intelligence. This has come as a deterrence on the movement of drugs,” added the investigator.