United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EL PASO – Last week, the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program (NM HIDTA) received a national recognition for its work in southeastern New Mexico under Operation Shape Shifter. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta made the announcement. The NM HIDTA was one of three to receive the Outstanding Cooperative Effort recognition.

Participating agencies of the NM HIDTA include Drug Enforcement Administration’s Las Cruces District Office, Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force, Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, Lea County Drug Task Force, New Mexico State Police, Homeland Security Investigations - Border Operations Task Force, U.S. Marshal Service - Fugitive/Violent Offender Task Force, Department of Public Safety Las Cruces Crime Laboratory, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico.

“Our combined efforts and collaboration in the NM HIDTA led to the dismantlement of a drug trafficking organization that was using Roswell as a hub,” said Greg Millard, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division. “The traffickers were responsible for importing, transporting, and distributing significant quantities of meth and fentanyl pills from Mexico to the entire southeastern portion of New Mexico and other parts of the U.S.”

“If it is easier to get illicit drugs in America than it is to get treatment, we will never bend the curve on overdoses,” said Dr. Gupta. “And that’s why the HIDTA program is so important to our public safety and public health approach to beat the overdose epidemic,” “On behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration, I thank the women and men of the 33 HIDTAs working every day to keep our communities healthy and safe.”

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