White House Announces New Funding to Disrupt Drug Trafficking and Illicit Finance
ONDCP Announces Additional Funding for Law Enforcement Officials on the Front Lines of the Overdose Epidemic as Part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week as part of the White House National Recovery Month Summit, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta announced $12 million in additional funding for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) programs across the country. Through HIDTAs, the Biden-Harris Administration supports collaborative Federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement and public health efforts to address overdoses and disrupt drug trafficking and production. These funds build on the $275 million ONDCP announced in April for the HIDTA Program. The additional funding will support new HIDTA counties, public health and public safety partnerships working to prevent overdoses, and efforts underway to investigate and prosecute gun crimes associated with drug trafficking, all of which will make our communities safer and healthier.
This new funding includes $3 million for crime gun intelligence initiatives, which reduce violence by promoting the tracking of illegal firearm use and trafficking, increasing information sharing among law enforcement agencies. Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGICs) will be established or enhanced at each of the HIDTA’s Investigative Support Centers (in Central Valley California, Nevada, New England, New York/New Jersey, Northern California, Northwest, Oregon/Idaho and South Florida) in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Funding also supports the establishment of crime gun intelligence initiatives in Appalachia, Arizona, Houston, and New Mexico HIDTAs.
The new funding also provides $730,000 to support initiatives to disrupt illicit financial and commercial activities. The New York/New Jersey HIDTA will receive funding to support forensic accountants, training, and access to financial integrity data. Funding will also support additional staffing and equipment resources to enhance drug overdose, counterfeit pill, and illicit drug profit investigative efforts while promoting officer safety in the Houston, Oregon/Idaho, and South Texas HIDTAs.
$1.6 million will also be allocated to substance use and overdose prevention initiatives. This includes support for the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA to maintain, manage, and expand the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP), an overdose surveillance system accessible to all 50 states. In Arizona and North Central HIDTAs, funding will support efforts to increase awareness of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and direct people to resources on the dangers of fentanyl and its illicit use. Nationwide, funding will also support a fentanyl prevention campaign for 11- to 14-year-olds in HIDTA communities where fentanyl is identified as one of the top drug threats.
“A key part of beating the overdose epidemic is disrupting and dismantling the financial networks of drug traffickers, and this funding will further strengthen those efforts,” said Dr. Gupta. “Through President Biden’s Unity Agenda, our brave law enforcement officers are seizing more drugs and making it more costly for drug traffickers to operate, our public health leaders are making sure more people access treatment, and together we are saving lives.”
Read the Biden-Harris Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy HERE.
Read the fact sheet on the Strategy HERE.
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