INVESTIGATION: DAY 2 

A REFORMED dealer who once boasted he could ship any drug to Jersey within two days of the order has urged parents to educate themselves about the ‘new normal’ of teens buying illegal substances online.

As reported yesterday, young Islanders are using a network of social-media channels and online messaging apps to get drugs – including cocaine and ecstasy – sent directly to their home.

The method – which involves posting web links on social media posts, both of which are timed to self-destruct to avoid detection – is seen by teenagers as a less risky way of sourcing drugs.

But Customs and the States police have warned that they are monitoring both the websites and packages sent to Jersey – and that importers could face severe consequences if caught.

Today Nick Whitcombe, who has served two prison sentences for smuggling drugs into the Island, said the online drugs market had boomed in recent years, with illegal substances now just a few clicks away for anyone with a social-media account.

The 32-year-old says that the Jersey authorities are ‘renowned’ in the criminal world for their ability to catch smugglers, who often end up serving prison sentences much longer than they would receive in the UK.

But he has stressed that education is the key, and that parents should make themselves aware of what their children could be doing online.

‘I really can’t emphasise this enough – there absolutely needs to be a focus on education,’ said Mr Whitcombe, who turned his back on drug dealing five years ago and now runs a chain of gyms on Merseyside.

‘You can tackle the supply all you like, but it is like a Hydra – you chop off a head and more will grow back.

‘Arresting a dealer is like putting a sticking plaster on a gun shot wound and leaving the bullet in there.’

He added: ‘Unless you tackle demand – by educating people enough to stop them wanting to do drugs – you will never stop the problem.

‘And parents need to educate themselves too, so they know what to look out for and can speak to their children about it.’

The JEP recently spoke to a teenager who said she and her friends often buy drugs online using a combination of messaging apps, such as Snapchat and Telegram, and social media platforms including Instagram.

Links to group chats on the messaging apps – where a dealer is selling drugs – are temporarily shared on the social-media sites and shared between friends.

On clicking the link, users are taken into the chats where they can order the drugs straight from the dealer, who is more often than not based in the UK. The drugs are then sent in small packages through the post.

Both the link and the post are deleted after a few hours or days in an effort to avoid detection.

Mr Whitcombe said: ‘The traditional methods – big shipments in a car on a ferry – are dead.

‘It’s all online now and through the post – this is the new normal.’ Both Instagram and Snapchat have told the JEP they work hard to remove drug-related content from their sites and also offer help to those who take drugs.

Drug users, or parents who are concerned that their child may be taking drugs, can get help and advice from a number of agencies, including FRANK – a national anti-drug advisory service (talktofrank.com) jointly established by the UK’s Department of Health and Home Office in 2003.

•Interview: Pages 6&7.