Drug dealers are using AI and social media to profile and target young people, UAE anti-narcotics adviser warns

Dubai: Dr. Abdullah Al-Khayyat, advisor to the National Drug Control Agency, warned against drug dealers using artificial intelligence and social media platforms to analyse individuals’ lifestyles and identify their weaknesses, as a precursor to targeting them with offers that suit their interests and needs. He stressed that prevention has become the first line of defence in confronting new methods of promotion and trafficking. Al-Khayyat said on the sidelines of a press conference held yesterday to announce the anti-drug conference, which is being held as part of the World Police Summit 2026, taking place from November 16 to 18, that drug promotion and trafficking networks no longer rely on their traditional methods, but have begun to employ the digital space, social media platforms, encrypted applications and electronic payment methods to reach the youth, in addition to the emergence of manufactured psychoactive substances presented in misleading forms that conceal their danger. He explained that artificial intelligence and data analysis tools allow promoters to understand people's interests and target them more accurately. For example, a person interested in building muscle may receive offers to buy nutritional supplements that may contain addictive elements, while introverted people may be targeted with pills promoted as a way to boost self-confidence and boldness. Al-Khayyat stressed that prevention is based on promoting digital awareness among children and youth, stressing that the open relationship between parents and children represents one of the most important lines of protection, as the ability of the child to confide in his parents about what he faces, from problems or attempts at luring, reflects the success of this relationship, while the existence of a barrier between the two parties may lead to a delay in discovering the problem and the arrival of information to the concerned authorities. He pointed out that dealing with new drug use cases is not limited to monitoring them, but also includes analysing their causes and motives, and determining whether the person was lured or received offers to try drugs, which helps in understanding targeting patterns and developing prevention methods. He explained that the National Anti-Narcotics Agency is working, in cooperation with local and international bodies, to analyse patterns of drug spread, smuggling methods, and promotion, and to coordinate national efforts within an integrated system that includes security, health, educational, social, and media institutions. He pointed out that monitoring and classifying narcotic substances is done through two local and international tracks, through laboratories and competent authorities, including the Dubai Police Observatory, in addition to cooperation with the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, noting that three new substances were added to the international control lists during November. For his part, the official spokesman for the agency, Fahd Abdullah Haikal, said that participation in the conference comes within the framework of strengthening cooperation with local and international bodies and implementing the National Drug Control Strategy 2024–2031, pointing to the agency’s efforts in coordinating policies and legislation, pursuing smuggling networks, and strengthening treatment, rehabilitation and prevention programs. Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of the General Department for Drug Control, Brigadier Ahmed Al-Suwaidi, explained that the conference discusses five main themes, including developments in the drug problem globally, treatment and rehabilitation, international cooperation and dismantling criminal networks, the health effects of narcotic substances, and the role of artificial intelligence in confronting criminal networks. For his part, Dr. Mohammed Jamal Al-Tamimi, Head of Programs at the World Police Summit, stressed that drug networks transcend national borders, making confronting them a shared responsibility that requires coordination between security, health, legislative, academic and international organisations. The programme includes panel discussions on dismantling international smuggling networks, synthetic drugs and the raw materials used in their manufacture, along with a dialogue on the experiences of Australia and Colombia, and workshops addressing synthetic alternatives to natural narcotics and the use of artificial intelligence in analysing drug cases. The conference will also witness the announcement of the winners of the Excellence in Drugs Award, which received more than 39 entries from different entities around the world, in the fields of field and intelligence work, combating raw materials, treatment and rehabilitation, and awareness and prevention.