WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (both D-MD) today announced that Harford County will now be eligible for federal funding to further the coordination and development of joint drug control efforts by federal, state, and local law enforcement officers in the community.  The White House Office of National Drug Control policy has designated Harford County a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), which makes the county eligible for federal resources to help reduce drug trafficking and its harmful consequences.

“Our law enforcement officials risk their lives daily to protect our community so they must have the necessary resources to do their jobs safely and effectively,” said Senator Cardin.  “This new, critical designation creates a strong partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement dedicated to making Harford County safer and healthier.” 

“This funding will help Harford County clean up their streets and fight the crime that is destroying neighborhoods and ruining dreams,” Senator Mikulski said. “I will continue to do all I can to make our neighborhoods safer by putting funds in the federal checkbook for policing programs like this one, which puts more cops on the streets and decreases crime.”

Law enforcement organizations within HIDTAs assess drug-trafficking problems and design specific initiatives to decrease the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution, and chronic use of drugs and money laundering.

Harford County will be added to the existing Washington/Baltimore HIDTA, which includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore City and Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s and Charles counties, as well as the District of Columbia and parts of Northern Virginia.  There are currently 28 HIDTAs, which include approximately 16 percent of all counties in the United States and 60 percent of the U.S. population. HIDTA-designated counties are located in 46 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

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