School bells will soon ring, and federal agents are warning Iowa parents to have conversations with their kids about the dangers of drugs, which are becoming much easier to get using smartphones.
Emily Murray, spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Omaha Field Division, says there are lethal consequences to drug experimentation, so the agency is launching a video series called “Hidden on Your Kid’s Phone.”
“The little videos are five minutes or less, so it’s easy to watch, quick to watch. It’s something families can watch together,” Murray says. “It gives everybody a better idea of how drug traffickers are utilizing social media apps and different platforms to sell drugs online.”
In one video, the father of a boy who died after swallowing a ten-dollar pill he bought through an app says it’s easier to order illegal drugs online than a pizza.
The transaction may start on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, then it will move to a text chat via WhatsAp or Signal, and payment can be made through cash apps like Venmo or Zelle. Murray says there are significant risks whenever you purchase any sort of drug online.
“No legitimate prescription medication or pharmaceutical can be purchased online,” she says. “So if you are buying anything, more than likely it’s going to have fentanyl in it. And we know that all too often there are lethal doses of fentanyl in those pills that are being purchased through social media and online.”
It’s estimated 95% of American teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 have access to a smartphone. Murray says drug traffickers use social media to advertise the sale of deadly drugs through posts and disappearing stories, often using code words and certain emojis.
“We encourage parents just to stay on top of the conversations that their kids are having. Look through the phone. As parents, it’s hard. We all want to give our kids that space to grow, but it’s so important to stay up on top of that,” Murray says. “If you see a message that doesn’t quite make sense, if there’s emojis that don’t look like they fit the conversation, ask your kids if you have questions.”
She says social media is just another avenue drug dealers use to push counterfeit pills and other poisons to a new generation.
Across the five-state DEA region (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota), agents seized more than 67,000 fentanyl pills in the first seven months of 2026.