[Reuters] Police in Chicago said on Thursday they have arrested 50 people suspected of using "secret groups" on Facebook to deal in guns and drugs, and have teamed up with the world’s largest social media network to crack down on criminal trafficking online.Announcing the arrests at a news conference, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson initially criticized Facebook as being unhelpful during a 10-month investigation by his department.
“Quite frankly, they haven’t been very friendly to law enforcement to prevent these things,” he told reporters.
However, police later said the department and the California-based company agreed to work collaboratively “to target any illegal activity on the platform.”
Police did not detail charges facing the 50 men and women arrested through Thursday, but said there were “dozens and dozens” of private Facebook groups being used for illegal drug and weapons transactions. Arrest warrants for 18 more suspects have been signed, and most have prior criminal histories, police said.