Appalachia HIDTA among 33 programs to receive White House funding

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of national Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced over $275 million for its High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program.

According to a release from the ONDCP, the HIDTA program supports Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

Locally, the Appalachia HIDTA will be receiving $9,996,950 to support the program’s work to hold drug traffickers accountable, seize illicit drugs such as fentanyl, precent and reduce gun violence and other violent crime associated with drug trafficking, improve efforts through enhanced data sharing and targeting, and dismantle illicit finance operations.

The funding will also advance President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy along with support public health and public safety partnerships like the Overdose Response Strategy.

“Law enforcement plays a critical role in our Nation’s work to hold drug traffickers accountable and prevent overdoses and poisonings being driven by illicit fentanyl. In 2022 alone, HIDTAs across the country worked to dismantle nearly 3,000 drug trafficking operations and more than 100 money laundering organizations. HIDTAs also denied these organizations more than $22 billion by seizing substances that harm the health and safety of our communities and by seizing nearly $500 million in currency,” said Dr. Gupta. “This funding will support the continuation of their life-saving work and advance President Biden’s Strategy to beat the overdose epidemic.”