The legislation, called the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Enhancement Act of 2024, would reauthorize a HIDTA program through 2030.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn – along with Chester County and Delaware County district attorneys Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe and Jack Stollsteimer, respectively – are teaming up to speak out in support of new federal legislation that has a chance to increase funding for the investigation and prosecution of fentanyl traffickers.
The legislation, called the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Enhancement Act of 2024, would reauthorize a HIDTA program through 2030, thus increasing funding to combat fentanyl trafficking and aid federal prosecutors in trafficking prosecutions, according to Steele.
The bi-partisan legislation was introduced Sept. 26 by State Sen. Mark Kelly, (D-AZ), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
According to DA Steele, fentanyl is a significant problem in communities across Southeastern Pennsylvania and across the United States.
In 2023, 106,876 people died from a drug overdose, with 74,088 of those deaths involving fentanyl, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the district attorneys, the opioid overdose crisis has torn apart countless communities and families across the country, and the prevalence and availability of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances in jurisdictions nationwide have perpetuated and exacerbated the deadly epidemic.
The HIDTA Enhancement Act would help combat the ongoing opioid overdose crisis, which has tragically claimed so many lives and torn apart countless families and communities.
Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties are all members of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic HIDTA, which serves the greater Philadelphia area, according to Steele.
HIDTA provides critical intelligence information, funding and enhanced partnerships with state and federal law enforcement that allow drug trafficking organizations to be investigated across county and state lines.
“Drug trafficking, especially fentanyl trafficking, remains one of our top priorities because it affects people in our communities across the county, state and country,” said Steele. “HIDTA funding has saved lives—continued funding for HIDTA is critical in our fight against this deadly scourge and other poisons that are still causing too many deaths and affecting far too many families. Funding HIDTA is integral to bringing local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies together as one team to take on one of the most important epidemic challenges of our time.”
“The partnership established through HIDTA and the funding it provides has been invaluable in combatting the trafficking of poisonous drugs like fentanyl. This reauthorization of funding is the best weapon in our arsenal in the fight against these drug traffickers,” said Schorn.
Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said, “The Liberty Mid-Atlantic HIDTA is a proven program that has allowed all of us to come together to attack fentanyl trafficking in the region. Without the infrastructure, funding, and collaboration it provides, law enforcement would be unable to hold the most sophisticated drug dealers accountable. Funding for HIDTA has been cut in recent years—but this legislation would rightfully fund this critical program.”
“Collaboration is absolutely essential to our efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. HIDTA is a critical catalyst to that collaboration by providing additional resources for enforcement initiatives, as well as support services such as training, information technology, and intelligence analysis. We enthusiastically support this bipartisan effort to reauthorize HIDTA and to increase its funding,” said Stollsteimer,
For more information on the HIDTA program for our region, visit the Liberty Mid Atlantic HIDTA at https://lmahidta.org.
