The New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program has been expanded to include Monmouth County, which has experienced a sharp rise in heroin and opioid use and trafficking, according to a press release from U.S. senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ).
The designation will allow Monmouth County to receive federal resources to further the coordination and development of drug control efforts among federal, state and local law enforcement officials, according to the press release.
Monmouth County will also receive $125,000 in federal funding to support a team led by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office consisting of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, local law enforcement and other partners to focus on opioid- and heroin-related investigations and outreach, according to Booker and Menendez.
In March, Booker and Menendez met with NY/NJ HIDTA officials at a statewide opioid summit the lawmakers convened. In August, Booker and Menendez hosted a panel discussion with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health David Shulkin concerning the heroin and opioid addiction crisis in New Jersey.
“I am grateful for the attention this widespread epidemic is getting with this designation. The federal funding recognizes the complexity of the drug problem in and around Monmouth County and is a welcome addition to our law enforcement efforts – a great force multiplier with our federal partners in our fight against prescription pill and heroin abuse,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.
Heroin overdose deaths in Monmouth County more than tripled in recent years from 20 reported cases in 2010 to 68 in 2014, according to the New Jersey State Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to data collected in 2015 by the New Jersey State Police Drug Monitoring Initiative, Monmouth County ranked second in New Jersey in marijuana cases, second in the state in prescription pill cases, third in cocaine cases and fourth in heroin cases. Monmouth ranks sixth in the state for deployments of the overdose reversal drug naloxone.
