Cantwell Announces $290,000 in New Funding to Fight Fentanyl Trafficking

10.18.24

Cantwell Announces $290,000 in New Funding to Fight Fentanyl Trafficking

Funding goes to Northwest HIDTA, which successfully seized nearly 5 million illicit fentanyl pills last year in WA

EDMONDS, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced that the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program will receive $290,000 in new funding.

"With overdose deaths continuing to rise in our state, the federal government is stepping up to help," said Sen. Cantwell. "Northwest HIDTA seized nearly 5 million illicit fentanyl pills last year, and this funding will aid their successful work with more than 75 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies across 15 counties to disrupt drug traffickers. We must continue to support proven ways to address this crisis and keep this dangerous illicit drug out of our communities."

The funding comes from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and is in addition to $5,031,349 in base funding allocated to Northwest HIDTA earlier this year.

The HIDTA Program coordinates and assists federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies to address regional drug threats and reduce illicit drug production and trafficking.

Sen. Cantwell has traveled across the State of Washington hearing from people in 10 communities on the front lines of the fentanyl crisis, including first responders, law enforcement, health care providers, and people with firsthand experience of fentanyl addiction. She's using what she heard in those roundtables to craft and champion specific legislative solutions, including:

• The Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on U.S. Transportation Networks Act, which would create first-ever inspection strategies to stop drug smuggling by commercial aircraft, railroads, vehicles, and ships. The legislation would boost state, local, and tribal local law enforcement resources,; deploy next generation non-intrusive detection technologies, and increase inspections at ports of entry.
• The Opioid Overdose Data Collection Enhancement Act, which would which would direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to states, units of local government, law enforcement task forces, and tribes to adopt and implement an overdose data collection program.
• The Fatal Overdose Reduction Act, which would expand an evidence-based, low-barrier fentanyl treatment pilot program across the United States; and
• The Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act, which would require that all pill presses be engraved with a serial number and impose penalties for the removal or alteration of the number.

Sen. Cantwell's other legislative actions to fight fentanyl include cosponsoring the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a new law enacted earlier this year that will help U.S. government agencies disrupt opioid supply chains by imposing sanctions on traffickers and fighting money laundering.

In addition, in March 2024, Sen. Cantwell voted for a series of federal funding bills allocating $1.69 billion to combat fentanyl and other illicit drugs coming into the United States, including an additional $385.2 million to increase security at U.S. ports of entry, with the goal of catching more illegal drugs like fentanyl before they make it across the border. Critical funding will go toward Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) technology at land and sea ports of entries. NII technologies-like large-scale X-ray and Gamma ray imaging systems, as well as a variety of portable and handheld technologies-allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to help detect and prevent contraband from being smuggled into the country without disrupting flow at the border. The funding breakdown includes:

• $201 million for construction and infrastructure activities for drive-through NII deployment;
• $75.5 million for the Fentanyl Initiative for NII at ports of entry and for labs at eight ports of entry;
• $65.3 million to procure and deploy new NII detection devices;
• $14.4 million to procure advanced Computed Tomography scanners for deployment to mail and courier facilities;
• $12.6 million for artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities; and
• $12.1 million for system integration that brings together the use of the scanning, machine learning and other customs data.

Sen. Cantwell also cosponsored and helped advance the TRANQ Research Act of 2023, which President Joe Biden signed into law last year. That measure will spur more research into xylazine and other novel synthetic drugs, by directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology to tackle these issues.

A full timeline of Sen. Cantwell's actions to combat the fentanyl crisis is available HERE.

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