ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Many in law enforcement, including here in New Mexico, have alleged the “Telegram” app as being used to commit various crimes.

“We know of 10 different cases in which juveniles have been able to obtain a firearm by going on to Telegram itself,” Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said. “I can tell you that it is common knowledge throughout law enforcement with the feds, state level, local level, we know that Telegram is being used for criminal activities. We have time and time examples of it.”

In April, police arrested 18-year-old Zane Katzenberger, accusing him of firing gunshots at a group of people in downtown Albuquerque. Investigators say Katzenberger allegedly told them he bought the gun on the Telegram app.

Around that same time, agents with the New Mexico Department of Justice arrested Gallup firefighter Andres Garcia for allegedly having child porn videos on his phone.

Garcia allegedly told investigators he accessed those videos on Telegram.

On Sunday, when French authorities arrested Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, they accused him of abetting organized crime, like child porn, on his app.

“We hope they can do a thorough investigation. I don’t know anything about their investigation specifically. But I know overall that this is an app on the Dark Web that needs to be seriously investigated by parties across this country as well, by law enforcement across this country,” the district attorney said.

Bregman added that while the arrest doesn’t change much, in terms of his office’s ongoing investigations, they’re paying close attention. They’re also working with the NMDOJ to crack down on crimes in online spaces.

“Freedom of speech in this country doesn’t mean you get to use an app or the internet to commit criminal activity such as drugs, guns, child pornography. Freedom of speech doesn’t cover that,” the district attorney said.

Last year, the NMDOJ sued Meta Platforms, alleging they haven’t done enough to protect underage children on their platforms. In May, their agents arrested three people accused of inappropriate contact with children on Meta’s platforms.

Those cases are still going through the justice system.