内容摘要：TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Gaza Strip will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Gaza Strip will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift

Mother and teacher prepare the girls to practice in a ballet studio in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)Mother and teacher prepare the girls to practice in a ballet studio in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A man crosses a street downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)A man crosses a street downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)People bid farewell and lay flowers in the coffin of fallen Ukrainian serviceman Vadym Popelniuk, born in 1991, during a religious service in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

People bid farewell and lay flowers in the coffin of fallen Ukrainian serviceman Vadym Popelniuk, born in 1991, during a religious service in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)An elderly man plays chess with a boy training him to perfect his game in Taras Shevchenko Park, in Kyiv Ukraine, Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

An elderly man plays chess with a boy training him to perfect his game in Taras Shevchenko Park, in Kyiv Ukraine, Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Local residents sit on a bench near the building damaged by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)The decline, DelPonte said, is “very small.”

A decade ago, people looking to buy illicit drugs online would visit the dark web. But this was quickly eclipsed by social media and messaging platforms’ rise. Using popular social media sites, encrypted chats, legitimate payment and shipping services, dealers moved into the light. Social platforms say they are constantly working to address the issue, while law enforcement has made some inroads.Last May, for instance, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “Operation Last Mile,” targeting Mexico’s Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels, led to 3,337 arrests and the seizure of nearly 44 million fentanyl pills and other deadly drugs. More than 1,100 associated cases involved social media apps and encrypted communications platforms, the DEA said.

On Instagram, as recently as this summer, a simple hashtag search for popular prescription drugs brought up numerous results with accounts offering to sell illicit pills to anyone looking. Many accounts directed users to Snapchat or Telegram, where experts say encryption and alleged lax moderation make it even easier to engage in illegal activity. Money is sent through payment platforms and the drugs can be delivered by mail, DelPonte said.Meta, for its part, has made it more difficult to search for drugs on its platform in recent weeks.