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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOnline Drug Dealers Are Vulnerable to Online Investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
With today\u2019s drug trafficking structure, drug-sniffing dogs and X-ray scans of shipping containers are less useful than they were a decade ago. Gaining hard intelligence is the only reliable method of detecting and interdicting drug shipments, whether obtained through old-fashioned human intelligence or electronic surveillance and intelligence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communications within and between large-scale criminal organizations are inconsistent. Academics studying the structure of drug trafficking rings<\/a> have found that some are hierarchical in nature, with a top-down management structure, while others are run communally or on an ad hoc basis, expanding or contracting in sync with fluctuations in demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Communications channels are similarly diverse, ranging from careful use of encrypted messaging to ordinary phone calls and texts. Some organizations have significant levels of communication between members. Others use specific individuals who serve as communications hubs or brokers, relaying information from one portion of the organization to another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the retail end of the industry, online drug dealers often utilize social media to connect with existing clients, and attract the attention of potential new clients. Unlike those farther up in the hierarchy, their role is to cultivate notice rather than evade it, finding end users for their product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each of these communications models represents a compromise between operational security and the efficient function of the business, and each represents potential vulnerabilities that may be exploited adroitly by LEAs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media intelligence-gathering can take many forms. Algorithms can be created to analyze the structure of criminal networks<\/a>, assessing their resilience in the face of law enforcement activity and, by extension, how best to disrupt their operations. These algorithms may also be used to analyze social media posts for innocuous-sounding words or phrases that are used as euphemisms or terms of art within organized crime circles, providing \u201cweak signals\u201d that, in a large enough body of data, can collectively identify a criminal network<\/a> and its members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When such text-based analyses (or other intelligence sources) identify individuals suspected of participating in drug trafficking, or when social media drugs are connected to a specific account, a different type of SOCMINT \u2013 typified by Spokeo for Business<\/a> \u2013 comes into play. While the algorithms previously discussed analyze the content<\/em> of social media posts, Spokeo\u2019s social media search excels in the area of uncovering links between what is being said and who <\/em>is saying it, even if their social media account is using an alias. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These links are traced from the over 12 billion data points in Spokeo\u2019s databases, drawn from over 5000 individual sources ranging from regulated data and government records to an uncommonly deep pool of social networks. Spokeo searches 129 discrete platforms, finding connections between accounts on those platforms and the phone numbers or email addresses used to create the accounts. These, in turn, can reveal the true names behind even anonymous or pseudonymous accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Attaching a real-world name to a drug-linked online account can often open a number of avenues to investigators. Additionally, Spokeo\u2019s search results frequently return additional details, including current and former addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses associated with a person of interest, as well as possible close relatives, employment history, criminal records (where applicable), and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This suggests a number of potential use cases, in which Spokeo\u2019s search results \u2013 either in and of themselves, or as a complement to other forms of SOCMINT \u2013 can be leveraged to find the vulnerabilities in a drug trafficking organization. Here, we explore just a few of the possible use cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public-facing social media accounts linked to online drug dealers typically fall into two categories. One is dealers peddling social media drugs to their followers, often using euphemistic slang that is opaque to the uninformed. A second is accounts intended not to drum up business, but as recruiting or propaganda tools for the crime ring they represent. These may promote the high earnings and lavish lifestyle<\/a> available to willing participants in the business, or conversely intimidate others who might wish to stand up to the drug traffickers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Using Spokeo for Business, it is possible to search these accounts using nothing more than their pseudonymous username or \u201chandle.\u201d If the person behind the account has been careless or ill-trained in operational security, the username could be traced to a specific phone number or email account. Conventional methods can then be employed to further investigate or track the now-known person of interest, their devices, and their associates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Disclaimer: Please note that Spokeo\u2019s billions of data points apply only to residents of the United States. Information pertaining to non-US persons, phone numbers, and online accounts must be pursued through appropriate interagency and international channels. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Identifying a suspected drug trafficker or online drug dealer, by connecting them to an active account\u2019s alias or through some other means, affords investigators an opportunity to then explore all of that person\u2019s contacts, followers, and associates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each interaction with another account provides a new name or username that can be utilized in a follow-up Spokeo search. In time, investigators plotting the links between these contacts and followers may be able to differentiate between their personal connections and their criminal associates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As more connections are uncovered, the number of links between suspected gang members can help determine whether a given drug trafficking ring\u2019s structure is highly networked (many connections between members) or whether its operatives are connected to a central hub figure but not to each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With that established, investigators can strategize for maximum disruption. Consider the following examples\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Spokeo for Business brings best-in-class SOCMINT capabilities within the reach of most LEAs, regardless of their size or IT resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For LEAs in smaller and less-populous jurisdictions, where the drug traffic may flow through as few as a handful of individuals, Spokeo can be used as a low-cost, standalone investigative tool to detect those individuals and bring them before the courts. Spokeo\u2019s ease of use, ease of administration and finely tuned onboarding process provide all the help a poorly-resourced LEA might need to use the product effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For larger LEAs that can draw on the resources of a full-fledged IT department, Spokeo can be deployed in conjunction with other SOCMINT or OSINT analysis tools, filling the gaps in their capabilities. Spokeo\u2019s powerful application programming interface (API) can be used to integrate it with other third-party offerings, existing law enforcement tools, and databases. Spokeo\u2019s data may then be served through an existing, familiar interface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a more complete picture of how Spokeo could be used to empower your own drug trafficking investigations, reach out to our team through the product\u2019s Law Enforcement page<\/a>. Our agents will be happy to provide additional details, provide a demonstration of the product, or arrange for a free hands-on trial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n International Narcotics Control Board: GRIDS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n International Narcotics Control Board: Global 0piods Project<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Crime Science: Drug Supply Networks: A Systematic Review of the Organizational Structure of Illicit Drug Trade<\/a>; Giseli Bichler, Aili Malm, Tristen Cooper; 31 January 2017 <\/p>\n\n\n\n PLoS One: Sociometric Network Analysis in Illicit Drugs Research: A Scoping Review<\/a>; Naomi Zakimi, et al; 27 February 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n Security Informatics: Organized Crime and Social Media; A System for Detecting, Corroborating and Visualizing Weak Signals of Organized Crime Online<\/a>; Simon Andrews, Ben Brewster, Tony Day; 13 December 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n Per Concordiam: Social Media Intelligence: Using Facebook, Twitter and Other Sites to Combat Organized Crime<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIntroduction to SOCMINT and Drug Trafficking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Utilizing Spokeo for Business to Disrupt Drug Trafficking <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Identifying Persons of Interest From a Social Media Alias<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Exploring the Contacts of a Known or Suspected Drug Trafficker<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nEmpowering Advanced Investigations with Spokeo for Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n