The messenger Telegram has become an indispensable assistant to law enforcement officers in many countries to catch criminals, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes on Sunday.

According to it, the messenger has become a “hunting ground” for criminals. According to former law enforcement officials, Telegram has become an “indispensable tool” for catching criminals.

As the publication points out with reference to data from the US Department of Justice, over the past five years, US authorities have brought dozens of criminals to justice with the help of messages published in the messenger. “There is hardly a single social network application that has not been used by criminals, but Telegram seeks to limit abuse of its platform as much as possible,” the newspaper quotes Telegram spokesman Michael Ravdonikas as saying.

Earlier, Pavel Durov, co-founder of the messenger, said that a sharp increase in the number of Telegram users caused problems that led to criminals abusing the platform.