Enzi Works to Stop Federal Raid On Drug-Fighting Money

Press Release

Enzi Works to Stop Federal Raid On Drug-Fighting Money
Albany, Campbell, Laramie, Natrona, Sweetwater and Uinta to receive $

U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is seeking much-needed funds to combat drug trafficking in Wyoming communities.

Enzi, along with 32 fellow senators, wrote a letter this week to leaders of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government asking support for funding of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. The letter stresses the importance of the HIDTA program in fighting drug trafficking nationwide and urges the committees to restore funding to $235 million during the appropriations process this summer.

"The HIDTA program has proven to be an immensely successful program to get drugs out of the marketplace and off Wyoming streets," Enzi said. "Congress needs to provide adequate funding in the coming year to ensure the continued success of the HIDTA program."

HIDTA in Wyoming

Wyoming's five HIDTA counties - Albany, Campbell, Laramie, Natrona, Sweetwater and Uinta - received about $1 million in federal money from the HIDTA program for Fiscal Year 2008. The money is used to reduce drug trafficking and production through increased cooperation among drug enforcement agencies and improving intelligence-sharing among agencies.

According to its 2006 annual report, the Rocky Mountain division of HIDTA which includes Wyoming has confiscated drugs with a total wholesale value of $139.6 million since 1997. Every dollar of funding invested by Rocky Mountain HIDTA has generated a $16.31 return-on-investment.

On a national level, HIDTA task forces disrupted or dismantled 2,660 drug trafficking organizations and also seized 3,855 tons of marijuana, 69 tons of cocaine, three tons of methamphetamine and almost a ton of heroin in 2007. In all, the wholesale value of drugs confiscated by HIDTA last year was more than $23.7 billion.

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