People are solely simply realising the sinister which means behind well-liked ‘eight ball’ emoji as dad and mom despatched warning

From a cheery smiley face to a cheeky wink, emoji are now a regular part of daily communication for many people.

But despite using them almost every day, many people are just realising the sinister meaning behind one popular symbol.

Surrey Police have warned parents to be on the lookout for the ‘eight ball’ emoji on their children’s social media profiles.

Although you could easily mistake this emoji for expressing an interest in pool, police caution that it could be a sign of criminal activity.

The eight ball emoji is used by drug dealers and criminal organisations to refer to an eighth of an ounce (3.5g) of drugs, known as an ‘eight ball’.

The slang term is most frequently used to refer to cocaine but can be used as a measurement for other types of illicit substances including cannabis or heroin.

As the gripping Netflix drama Adolescence recently revealed, adults are often unaware of the hidden world of secret emoji.

While many emoji seem innocent, Surrey Police warns that organised criminal gangs frequently use emoji as ‘code for drug, violence and sexual activities‘.

Although it might have other uses, the eight ball is one of the most common emoji used to communicate about drug use and dealing.

Surrey Police warns that vulnerable young people are at risk of becoming involved in ‘county lines’ – smuggling drugs from cities into rural areas.

The police force warns: ‘Criminal networks use social media to groom and recruit children for county lines.

‘They may send them direct messages (known as ‘DMs’), or share messages to wider groups as “stories” or “posts”.’

Surrey Police points out that criminals may not communicate openly about their activities and often use emoji as code.

In particular, they say that the eight ball emoji could mean ‘buying an eighth of an ounce’.

But it isn’t just this emoji that has a hidden criminal meaning.

In drug slang, a dealer is often referred to as a ‘plug’ so drug users will use the ‘electrical plug’ emoji.

In one post on X’s ‘Weed Twitter’ community group, one drug user wrote they had ‘asked the plug for an [eight ball emoji] fo $25’.

In this context, this means that they had asked their dealer to sell them 3.5 grams of cannabis.

Likewise, those involved in criminal activity might use the ‘bomb’, ‘fire’, or ‘rocket’ emoji to say their drugs are of a high quality.

Drug dealers may also use other emoji to refer to different varieties of illicit substances.

For example, the ‘snowman’, ‘snowflake’, or ‘blowfish’ emoji can all be used as code for the various slang names of cocaine.

Cannabis, meanwhile, can be represented by a wide range of emoji including trees, leaves, broccoli, or other plants.

Similarly, the horse emoji might be used to refer to the horse tranquiliser and popular recreational drug ketamine.

In 2023, Surrey Police launched the Emoji Awareness Campaign to help parents understand what their children were really saying online.

The police cautioned parents to keep an eye on their children’s social media profiles but not to try and read private or personal messages on their devices.

A Surrey Police statement said: ‘What is vital in these discussions is trust.

‘We’re very aware that checking phones could break down this trust between a parent and their child, and therefore we are not suggesting parents do this.

‘Instead, we want people to be aware of what these emoji mean, in case they do happen to see them.’

In addition to drug dealing, police forces have also warned parents that emoji can hide a sinister code detailing potential sexual abuse.

In January last year, the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) urged parents to familiarise themselves with the double meanings of emoji to identify if their children are being targeted by online predators.

According to the ACCCE, the ‘corn’ emoji is frequently used to mean ‘porn’ on social media to avoid word restrictions.

Meanwhile, the ‘hot pepper’ emoji can be used to mean ‘inappropriate or risqué content’.

However, the ACCCE says that the emoji most commonly used by groomers online is the innocent-seeming ‘angry face’ emoji.

This emoji occurred multiple times in chats between offenders and victims of financial extortion, for example, to say: ‘I am sending your images now and they will go viral’.

Australian Federal Police Commander Helen Schneider says: ‘Emojis and acronyms are commonly used in online communication and are usually harmless fun, but some have double meanings that are well known and some that are not.

‘Our recent experience has shown that in some situations emojis like the angry face emoji could be a sign that your child is the victim of online grooming.

‘While we know parents often want to respect the privacy of their children, having honest and open conversations about what they communicate, and what is being communicated to them, could help prevent them falling victims to predators, many who pretend to be children or teens.’