ONDCP Seal
 PolicyPolicy
Agency Budget Summary
line
Office of National Drug Control Policy

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas

I. Resource Summary

Resource Summary

II. Methodology

  • All resources are 100 percent drug-related.

III. Program Summary

  • ONDCP is the President's primary policy office for drug issues, providing advice and government-wide oversight of drug programs and coordination of the Strategy. ONDCP is charged with oversight of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program, whose mission is to reduce drug trafficking activities in the most critical drug trafficking areas -- particularly as they impact other areas of the country. The Program strengthens America's drug control efforts by intensifying the impact of drug control agencies throughpartnerships of local, state, and federal drug control agencies in designated regions and creating systems for them to synchronize their efforts.

  • Section 707 of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 authorizes the Director of ONDCP to designate areas in the United States as HIDTAs for the purpose of providing increased federal assistance to alleviate drug-related problems.

  • The Director consults with the Attorney General, heads of national drug program agencies and the appropriate Governors and considers the following criteria required by statute:

    • the extent to which the area is a center of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation or distribution;

    • the extent to which state and local law enforcement agencies have committed resources to the drug trafficking problem in the area, thereby indicating a determination to respond aggressively to the problem;

    • the extent to which drug-related activities in the area are having a harmful impact in other areas of the country; and

    • the extent to which a significant increase in allocation of federal resources is necessary to respond adequately to drug-related activities in the area.

  • Specific counties in 21 areas have been designated as HIDTAs: Southwest Border (which contains the 5 partnerships of the California Border, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, and South Texas), Los Angeles, Houston, Miami/South Florida, and New York/New Jersey (designated in 1990); Washington D.C./Baltimore and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands (designated in 1994); Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia/Camden (designated in 1995); Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming); Northwest (Washington State); Lake County (Indiana); Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota*); Gulf Coast (Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi) (designated in 1996); Southeast Michigan and Northern California (changed from San Francisco Bay) (designated in 1997); Appalachia (Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia); and Central Florida, Milwaukee and North Texas (designated in 1998).

    (A proposal for North Dakota to be added to the Midwest HIDTA was being reviewed during the period of time that this document was produced.)

  • Typically, a HIDTA consists of:

    • an Executive Committee composed of approximately 16 members with equal representation from local, state and federal law enforcement officials;

    • a major task force consisting of collocated local, state and federal law enforcement members;

    • other regional local/state and federal collocated drug and money laundering task forces;

    • a regional joint intelligence center and information-sharing network; and

    • other supporting initiatives to sustain law enforcement gains (e.g., demand reduction and coordination).

  • At the National level, the HIDTA Coordination Committee makes recommendations on policy, program and funding to the Director of ONDCP. The Committee's membership consists of representatives from ONDCP and the Departments of Justice, Treasury and Health and Human Services. The Director of ONDCP oversees the development and implementation of the HIDTA Program.

IV. Budget Summary

1999 Program

  • The FY 1999 program includes $184.0 million for drug-related activities. Included in this funding is $20.5 million discretionary and $1.5 million in the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund for Milwaukee.

  • The HIDTA Program supports all five goals of the Strategy:

Goal 1: Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco.

  • Several HIDTAs integrate other drug education and early intervention programs with law enforcement efforts to reduce youthful involvement with illegal substances and to strengthen families and communities.

Goal 2: Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.

  • All HIDTAs have joint drug task forces that target drug trafficking organizations for dismantling and disruption, which increases the safety of America's citizens. Since the Program began, the task forces have dismantled major drug trafficking organizations, seized tons of illicit drugs and millions of dollars in currency, and dismantled the hierarchies of major international drug trafficking organizations. In addition, HIDTA task forces have dismantled gangs with major drug trafficking organization connections. HIDTA drug task forces conduct intensive surveillance of drug organizations; infiltrate street gangs; assist prosecutors in developing cases; and use specialized techniques to conduct sophisticated intelligence gathering, wire taps and investigations.

Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.

  • The South Florida HIDTA developed an automated program for client intake, treatment, billing and matching, referral and placement. It also permits reporting on outcomes to state and federal funding sources. In addition, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA has developed an automated information system that incorporates confidentiality requirements of multiple treatment and criminal justice agencies.

  • The "Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998" requires the Director to ensure that no federal funds appropriated for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program are expended for the establishment or expansion of drug treatment programs.

Goal 4: Shield America's air, land and sea frontiers from the drug threat.

  • The HIDTA Program concentrates America's drug control efforts in key areas to protect the nation's frontiers from drug trafficking. Along the Southwest border and at major ports of entry, HIDTAs assist in developing border interdiction, intelligence, investigation and prosecution systems to develop and support cases against those who smuggle, launder money and engage in the international drug trade.

Goal 5: Break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.

  • The HIDTA Program, by integrating local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecution agencies, disrupts both international and domestic drug trafficking by a systematic handling of complex intelligence, investigation and technical issues.

2000 Request

  • The total FY 2000 HIDTA drug control budget request is $185.8 million which supports all five Goals of the Strategy. Program enhancements of $1.8 million are requested for a HIDTA administrative support initiative to retain independent auditors to perform financial and programmatic reviews of the HIDTAs.

V. Program Accomplishments

  • Equal partnerships between local, state and federal agencies continue to be built within the collocated initiatives that are made up of more than 700 different agencies. Participating law enforcement agencies benefit from the equal footing that exists between them and the synergy of HIDTA relationships. These agencies achieve substantial efficiencies such as reduced duplication of efforts and the creation of enduring partnerships.

  • The drug task forces of mature HIDTAs are at the cutting edge of task force development. Not only are agency efforts coordinated within task forces, but the mature HIDTAs coordinate and integrate task forces to form teams of task forces.

  • The HIDTA Program has synchronized local, state and federal efforts by creating joint systems for them to work together, share intelligence, personnel and technical resources. Regional intelligence centers link shared investigative information and common rules for officer safety. Extensive research and development time and costs are precluded by modifying off-the-shelf technology. New technologies, resources and activities are systematically integrated so that information can be shared within a region and nationwide.

  • Through innovative investigations, modifications of existing technologies and integrated agency coordination, the HIDTA Program has advanced the Strategy by improving public safety and disrupting the drug trade. Joint efforts of local, state, and federal agencies built by HIDTAs have achieved major outcomes in FY 1998.

  • The South Florida HIDTA contributes to the operation of 9 task force initiatives including several new initiatives. By mid-1998, the HIDTA reported that these initiatives contributed to dismantling 115 drug-trafficking organizations, disrupting/reducing 47 money-laundering organizations and 18 drug-trafficking organizations and seizures of 27,552.8 kilograms of cocaine, 13,962 pounds of cannabis, 72.7 pounds of crack, 70.5 pounds of hashish, 179.21 pounds of heroin, 5,755 doses of LSD and over $100 million in U.S. currency and drug trafficker assets.

  • During FY 1998, the Los Angeles HIDTA task forces targeted 87% (146 of 168) of the major drug trafficking organizations they identified in the region. Sixty-two percent (90) of the major drug-trafficking organizations were dismantled or severely disrupted. Nearly 38 tons of dangerous drugs were removed from the streets by Los Angeles HIDTA task forces (38.6 percent increase over 1997). This includes 20.4 tons of cocaine (36 percent increase), 12.7 tons of marijuana, 24 pounds of heroin, 3.3 tons of ephedrine (145.9 percent increase) and 1.6 tons of methamphetamine (348.6% increase). Additionally, over $21.6 million was seized and 650 individuals were arrested for various narcotic and money laundering offenses.

  • During FY 1998, the Houston HIDTA incorporated a strategy that divided resources into four categories 1) trafficker initiatives, 2) a money laundering initiative, 3) a gang initiative and 4) intelligence. The 1998 HIDTA Threat Assessment Survey reported that law enforcement agencies reported seizures of 27,106 pounds of cocaine, 123,648 pounds of cannabis, 97.7 pounds of heroin and 84.5 pounds of methamphetamine.

  • During FY 1998, the five Southwestern Border HIDTA partnerships identified 435 drug-trafficking organizations, 1,361 gangs involved in drug trafficking and 107 drug money-laundering organizations operating along the Southwest border. The Southwestern Border HIDTA reported that the partnerships contributed to the seizure of 30,162 kilograms of cocaine, 721,567 kilograms of marijuana, 187 kilograms of heroin and 750 kilograms of methamphetamine.

  • The New York/New Jersey HIDTA contributes to the operation of 13 major task force and support initiatives including 3 new initiatives. In FY 1998, the HIDTA reported that theseinitiatives contributed to dismantling or disrupting 153 drug-trafficking organizations and 128 major money-laundering organizations, the arrests of 170 major narcotics and immigration fugitives and seizures of over 2,000 pounds of cocaine, 63.5 kilograms of heroin, and $106 million in cash.

line

1999 National Drug Control Strategy
Budget Summary		 Office of National Drug Control Policy