WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced over $276 million in recent funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program.
The HIDTA program supports federal, state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement agencies operating in areas of the United States that are considered critical drug trafficking regions.
The recent funding will aid law enforcement agencies seize illegal drugs such as fentanyl, prevent and reduce gun violence and other violent crimes related to drug trafficking, improve counter-terrorism efforts through improved data sharing and more targeted approaches, and dismantle illicit financial transactions.
“There is hardly a family or community that is not affected,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta.
Gupta says drug trafficking affects far too many people.
“We know we lose an American every five minutes,” Gupta said.
The White House is providing over $276 million to law enforcement agencies to aid curb the overdose epidemic.
The target areas: getting drugs like fentanyl off the streets, reducing drug-related gun violence and disrupting money laundering activities.
But West Virginia Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito says the Biden administration has failed to prosecute many of these crimes.
“From drug dealer to car thief,” said Moore Capito.
New preliminary data from the CDC show that overdose deaths fell by 3% last year. Reasons for the decline were not given.
Gupta thanks President Biden and Congress for making life-saving tools like naloxone more accessible.
“We want to make sure we save every life we can because every life is precious,” Gupta said.
Moore Capito says she supports all efforts to reduce overdose deaths, but Capito says juvenile people must first be educated about the dangers of drugs.
“We need to teach our children in kindergarten that one pill can kill,” added Moore Capito.
The White House money to combat the opioid epidemic will cover all 50 states. The spending breakdown can be seen in this graphic:
| WASHED | New financing 2024 |
| Alaska HIDTA | $2,587,000 |
| Appalachian HIDTA | 10,146,950 USD |
| Arizona HIDTA | $13,347,756 |
| Atlanta/Carolina’s HIDTA | 8,145,753 USD |
| Central Florida HIDTA | $3,849,500 |
| Central Valley, California, HIDTA | $4,734,000 |
| Chicago HIDTA | 6,739,093 USD |
| HIDTA on the Gulf Coast | 9,200,612 USD |
| Hawaii HIDTA | $3,677,998 |
| Houston HIDTA | 11,526,802 USD |
| Indiana HIDTA | 4,659,249 USD |
| Liberty Mid-Atlantic HIDTA | 6,368,351 USD |
| Los Angeles HIDTA | 16,187,469 USD |
| Michigan HIDTA | $3,980,117 |
| Midwest HIDTA | 15,914,383 USD |
| Nevada HIDTA | $3,453,000 |
| New England HIDTA | 4,735,042 USD |
| HIDTA in New Mexico | 9,502,108 USD |
| HIDTA New York/New Jersey | 15,348,378 USD |
| North Central HIDTA | $7,811,996 |
| North Florida HIDTA | $3,845,500 |
| Northern California HIDTA | $3,657,500 |
| Northwestern HIDTA | 5,031,349 USD |
| Ohio HIDTA | 5,871,418 USD |
| Oregon/Idaho HIDTA | $4,229,000 |
| Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands HIDTA | 10,577,433 USD |
| Rocky Mountain HIDTA | 10,931,379 USD |
| San Diego/Imperial Valley HIDTA | 11,899,873 USD |
| South Florida HIDTA | 14,418,286 USD |
| South Texas HIDTA | 10,129,143 USD |
| Texoma HIDTA | $4,249,500 |
| Washington/Baltimore HIDTA | 16,487,073 USD |
| West Texas HIDTA | 9,211,634 USD |
| National HIDTA Help Center | 4,086,770 USD |
| IN TOTAL | $276,541,415 |
