Funding released for drug task forces

By: 
Staff writer

The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded the Ohio Attorney General’s Organized Crime Investigations Commission $3.6 million in funding to combat the illegal manufacture and distribution of heroin and prescription opioids in Ohio.
“Every day in Ohio, we continue to see the adverse effects that the heroin and opioid epidemic have in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “This funding will help the Ohio Attorney General’s office continue their great work against this epidemic and support our law enforcement officers on the front lines.”
The funds were awarded through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the justice department.
“We appreciate the partnership and the additional funding that will be used to disrupt the supply chain of illegal drugs in Ohio,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “OOCIC’s interdiction task forces strive to stay a step ahead of the ever evolving drug dealers who plague our streets and poison our youth. They aren’t stopping, but we aren’t either.”
The COPS office is awarding more than $29.7 million in grant funding to 14 state law enforcement agency task forces through the Anti-Heroin Task Force Program, which provides three years of funding directly to state-level law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach and interdisciplinary team (task force) structures, in states with high per capita rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and other opioids.
The funds will support the location or investigation of illicit activities through statewide collaboration related to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.
AHTF funding has had a significant impact on state investigative and seizure work. During the five-month period between October 2019 and February 2020, current AHTF grantees reported the seizure of over $4 million in cash and 1,213 firearms.
Since 1994, the COPS office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 135,000 officers and provide resource products including publications, training and technical assistance.

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