WITH DISTURBING UPTICK OF HEROIN USE & DRUG-RELATED CRIME IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, SCHUMER CALLS FOR FEDS TO DESIGNATE REGION AS “HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA” – DESIGNATION WOULD MEAN ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO FIGHT HEROIN SCOURGE
Chautauqua County Has Experienced Alarming Spike in Heroin Use & Trafficking – Heroin-Related Arrests Have Tripled in Jamestown Over Past Three Years; Heroin Linked To More Deaths in Area Than Any Other Drug
Schumer Calls on Fed. Office of Drug Control to Designate Chautauqua a ‘High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area,’ Which Will Provide Additional Fed Resources to Disrupt Drug Crimes & Usage
Schumer: We Must Provide Money & Intel To Help Chautauqua Battle Heroin Scourge
On Friday, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer urged the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to designate ChautauquaCounty a federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), which will help Chautauqua County address a recent and disturbing uptick in heroin usage and drug-related crime by improving coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as providing equipment, technology and additional resources that the County needs to tackle this challenge. Schumer noted that, in the city of Jamestown, heroin-related arrests have tripled over the last three years, and in 2013 heroin use was linked to more deaths in the area than any other drug. In addition, Jamestown Police Department estimates 90 percent of crime in the city is drug related. Schumer also noted that a major drug trafficking group – the Angueira Drug Ring – was busted in 2011, after a three-year investigation, and found to have been moving more than a half a kilogram of heroin per week through Chautauqua County to a number of states in the northeast. Schumer is asking ONDCP to designate Chautauqua County as a HIDTA in order to curb this emerging threat.
“Heroin use, fatal overdoses, and drug-related crime is again on the rise, and Chautauqua County in particular has seen a rise in heroin use that is alarming. That is why I am calling on the feds to designate Chautauqua County a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which will provide technical expertise, more law enforcement personnel and the potential for more funding to combat heroin use and tackle this challenge head-on,”said Schumer. “More must be done to curtail the spike in heroin use and prevent more Chautauqua County residents from the bane of drug addiction.”
“The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office works day and night to keep the residents of this community safe, but in recent years the volume of drugs moving through our community has continued to increase. We have applied to become a federally designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area so that we can access vital intelligence and information from other regions and potentially additional federal funding to fight drug trafficking in our community. Senator Schumer’s support of this effort is critical, and we greatly appreciate his efforts on behalf of all Law Enforcement in Western New York” said Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace.
Schumer called on the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to establish Chautauqua County as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The designation would prioritize funding and other resources for Chautauqua County, as well as promote greater coordination between local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel in the region. In support of these efforts, the HIDTA program will fund intelligence-sharing initiatives, drug use prevention and drug treatment initiatives, and general support for programs that provide assistance to law enforcement beyond their normal scope of duty. 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. Each HIDTA assesses the drug trafficking threat in its defined area for the upcoming year, develops a strategy to address that threat, designs initiatives to implement the strategy, proposes funding needed to carry out the initiatives, and prepares an annual report describing its performance the previous year.
Schumer noted that the goal of the federal government’s drug policy is to build safe and healthy communities, and a HIDTA designation for Chautauqua would help supplement the hard work already being done by Chautauqua County law enforcement. Schumer said that it is critical for Chautauqua law enforcement to have as many resources at their disposal as possible in the fight against heroin usage and trafficking.
A copy of Senator Schumer’s letter to the ONDCP appears below:
Dear Director Botticelli,
Thank you for your continuous efforts to combat drug abuse throughout the country. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been a vital partner to Congress as we work to curtail drug abuse across the nation. Since its creation in 1988, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program run by the ONDCP has been highly successful combating abusive outbreaks of a variety of dangerous drugs. Today, I write to ask for help from the HIDTA program. In my home state of New York, Chautauqua County is experiencing a public health crisis.
The use of heroin has skyrocketed over the past several years, and is harming citizens throughout the county. In the city of Jamestown, heroin-related arrests have tripled over the last three years, and in 2013 heroin were linked to more deaths in the area than any other drug. This problem has been festering for a few years now. In 2011, after a three-year, joint investigation between the local police departments, the County Sheriff’s Department, and the DEA, the Angueira Drug Ring was busted. The ring was moving more than a half a kilogram a week of heroin through Chautauqua County to a number of states in the northeast. Unfortunately, drug addicts have turned to heroin as a cheaper, more accessible alternative than prescription drugs such as oxycodone. I ask that the ONDCP designate Chautauqua County as a HIDTA in order to help curb this emerging dilemma.
I understand that Chautauqua County has submitted an application to become a HIDTA-designated county, and I urge you to seriously consider their application. The NY/NJ HIDTA has been essential to areas of New York that have been ravaged by heroin and opioid abuse, acting as a powerful resource for counties that are looking for new innovative ways to prevent drug abuse. In New York City, HIDTA’s work in partnership with the NYPD has helped grow and develop the RxStat program, which has become a model for the country in how to use overdose data and other technological resources. With HIDTA’s support and guidance, they are now working to share these ideas and approaches with areas all across the state, and HIDTA designated counties will be in the best position to use and embrace these ideas.
Again, thank you for your dedicated efforts to keep the citizens of New York and the United States healthy and safe and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
U.S. Senator