United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BRIDGETON, N.J. – Cumberland County is the latest region to be assigned the designation of being a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) through the federally funded HIDTA program, Susan A. Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, and Jennifer Webb-McRae, Cumberland County Prosecutor, announced today.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

Special Agent in Charge Gibson said, “The formation of this new HIDTA group as part of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic HIDTA will allow for more law enforcement resources to be deployed to the Cumberland County area to aid in the fight against drug trafficking and drug related violence. We will remain committed to bring to justice those who choose to sell illegal narcotics in our communities, and are dedicating special agents to the new Cumberland County led task force.”  

“I would like to thank the ONDCP for this important designation”, said Jennifer Webb-McRae, Cumberland County Prosecutor. “Attaining same will help Cumberland County disrupt and deter those who seek to harm our community by trafficking drugs, fueling addiction and causing overdoses. We look forward to working with the DEA as a force multiplier in this endeavor.”

HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. The DEA plays a very active role and has more than 1,500 authorized special agent positions dedicated to the program. At the local level, the HIDTAs are directed and guided by Executive Boards composed of an equal number of regional Federal and non-Federal (state, local, and tribal) law enforcement leaders.

The purpose of the HIDTA program is to reduce drug trafficking and production in the United States by:

•Facilitating cooperation among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to share information and implement coordinated enforcement activities;

•Enhancing law enforcement intelligence sharing among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

•Providing reliable law enforcement intelligence to law enforcement agencies to facilitate the design of effective enforcement strategies and operations; and

•Supporting coordinated law enforcement strategies that make the most of available resources to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in designated areas of the United States and in the Nation as a whole.

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