In 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration began the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign to place a spotlight on the growing problem of deadly counterfeit pills being sold on the streets and introduced to young people on social media.
Since that campaign began, federal agents who gather intel on drug distribution have been working behind the scenes to decode emojis found in both social media and text communications between drug dealers and children.
“Certain emojis that we have uncovered in our investigations show that drug traffickers and our youth are using emojis to communicate regarding drugs, buying drugs and trying to obtain drugs,” said Deanne L. Reuter, special agent in charge of the DEA Miami division, which oversees all DEA operations in Florida.
Read the rest of this story at WJCT News partner News4Jax.