Albanian criminals are using the TikTok platform to advertise "job opportunities" that can bring in up to 100,000 liras (about 117,000 euros) per year to those who agree to work as drug traffickers.
Online advertisements promise tax-free payments of up to 6,000 pounds (about 7,000 euros) a month for those willing to traffic cocaine and cannabis in an organized network stretching from Glasgow to the south of England.
TikTok is becoming a key tool for drug trafficking rings, which offer wages of 200 pounds (about 235 euros), as well as free cars and fuel, to those who agree to work even seven days a week.
In fact, posts use encrypted symbols, such as the snowflake emoji for cocaine, as well as Christmas trees and potted plants as substitutes for cannabis, thus facilitating trafficking and avoiding detection by the authorities.
Police authorities have warned about the use of this coded language, with which criminals aim to attract young and vulnerable people to this dangerous network.
Meanwhile, Albanian gangs are offering up to 30,000 liras (around 35,000 euros) as a reward for information that will help them take down rival gangs. TikTok has become an important tool for both expanding the influence of these groups and recruiting new members.
Another worrying trend is the creation of special TikTok accounts by Albanian criminal organizations, which use hidden codes and references to popular Albanian singers, in order to attract interested parties and avoid detection by the authorities.
