Children as young as 15 are exploiting a secret network of social-media channels and online messaging apps to order drugs – including cocaine and ecstasy – from the comfort of their bedroom, a JEP investigation has discovered.

By clicking on temporary web links – timed to self-destruct to avoid detection – placed on posts on platforms such as Instagram teenagers gain direct access to UK dealers touting ‘drugs menus’ and promising quick delivery to Jersey through the post.

The method is seen by websavvy teenagers as a lowrisk way of sourcing drugs – removing the potential of being caught red-handed in a face-toface deal.

In a three-part series which starts today: •We speak to a teenager who said she and her friends regularly order drugs online – sometimes pooling their funds to buy a large stash and ‘praying’ they don’t get caught.

•A reporter infiltrated a private messaging channel while posing as a teenager wanting cocaine for the weekend – and within 30 minutes was given a price and a promise that the drugs would arrive within two days.

•A reformed dealer who has served two jail terms for smuggling drugs into Jersey spoke exclusively to the JEP, describing how teenagers have become fearless when ordering drugs online.

•And a reporter spent a morning with Customs officers intercepting parcels at Jersey Post’s headquarters – as the authorities warn teenagers that their actions online are being monitored.

DURING the course of the investigation, we discovered that with just a few clicks teenagers can buy anything from cannabis to class A drugs – including cocaine, ecstasy and the horse tranquilliser ketamine – from dealers hidden away on otherwise legitimate sites.

The method is simple: links to group chats on messaging apps such as Snapchat and Telegram – where a dealer is selling drugs – are temporarily shared on social media platforms or obscure web forums.

The link is then forwarded around friendship groups before it is manually deleted by the individual who originally shared it – usually a UK-based dealer, or sometimes a Jersey-based supplier. The post – or story – on which the link was posted will also eventually self-destruct.

One Jersey teenager, who spoke to theJEP on the grounds that she remained anonymous, said that she used social media to source small amounts of cannabis on a regular basis.

She explained that a link to an invitation-only group on a messaging app suchas Telegram would be shared via an Instagram ‘story’ – where users’ posts disappear after a set amount of time.

This is done with an expectation that the story – which can also be shared – will make its way across enough screens for those who are interested in buying drugs to find it, but not stay up long enough to gain attention from the authorities.

Once clicked, the link in the story will instantly transfer the user to the Telegram app where they can access the chat.

The content shared in the groups can vary massively, with some dealers offering so-called ‘drugs menus’ of their products with full price breakdowns.

Accepted payment types also vary, from more traditional transfer methods such as PayPal to digital exchanges of cryptocurrency.

More discreet sellers lean heavily on emojis as a code for what could be purchased. A snowflake, for example, represents cocaine; a sweet denotes ecstasy pills, a chocolate bar represents cannabis resin and a horse head is ketamine.

‘If you know what you are doing then it’s fairly easy to get access to a group,’ said the teenager, who showed the JEP Instagram links on her phone which took her directly through to a Telegram chat where a dealer was selling drugs.

‘You can then message the dealer directly to arrange an order.

‘It’s gained in popularity for people who want to ship things to their home and not get caught,’ she said, adding that her personal preference was to use Snapchat with local dealers.

She also explained that the drugs were rarely sent to the person’s own house if there were concerns about it being discovered by family or the police.

‘Some people order packages to their friends’ addresses. They will band all their money together and send it to one of their addresses – and pray they don’t get caught.’ However, she said that the trend of social-media drug purchases in Jersey was something that ‘fluctuates’.‘There will be a time when a bunch of people are ordering at the same time and one of them will get caught. Then it all just dies down because no one else wants to get caught and then starts back up again.

‘You can just message someone and say I want this much, when and where and it can literally be that easy.’ In more extreme cases, individuals without the ability to pay can get substances ‘on tick’, essentially a loan where they are encouraged to sell the drugs and generate a profit for themselves and a Jersey-based dealer.

‘It just depends on the person,’ the teenager explained, adding that those in the upper school years were more likelyto take up such an offer.

Asked how much could be made dealing on ‘tick’ in a few months, she said: ‘Obviously it makes you way more than minimum wage. A lot – over £2,000.’ The head of Jersey’s drug squad, Detective Sergeant Jim McGranahan, said that the force was aware of teens using social media to buy illegal substances.

He conceded that the authorities were essentially playing ‘catch-up’ when it came to tracking drug-related activity across the latest wave of messaging applications, andthat the police’s job was made even more difficult because the packages were often sent to multi-occupancy properties, such as a block of flats, where it might be left in a hallway or communal area.

In an interview which will be published in full on Wednesday, DS McGranahan said that despite the secret nature of the teenagers’ activities, the police were watching their movements online – and that young people in Jersey had been caught trying to order drugs.

‘When we look at mobile phone downloads – it’s “don’t talk to me on this, download Signal” or “download Telegram and talk to me on that”. So you will find that some savvy people have been told about it and are passing it on.‘You have to play catch-up – we cannot realistically go to a company like Snapchat or Telegram and say “if you come across any drug-related activity in Jersey can you give us a heads-up?”, it just doesn’t happen,’ he explained.

JEP EXCLUSIVE

TOMORROW: Reformed dealer who once boasted he could ship any drug to Jersey within two days of the order tells how gangs target techsavvy teens – and urges parents to speak to their children before they get drawn into a life of crime