Pence
WASHINGTON — Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., has co-led legislation that would reauthorize the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and provide additional resources for state and local law enforcement and prosecutors to combat fentanyl, according to the congressman’s office.
Pence said he “co-led” the bill, called the HIDTA Reauthorization Act of 2024, along with Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif.; Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
The HIDTA program, which has five designated zones in Indiana, seized 44.4 million dosage units of fentanyl in 2022, a nearly 400 percent increase from 2021 seizures, according to Pence’s office. However, many fentanyl related cases originating from HIDTA arrests have not been prosecuted, either because state officials decline to bring charges or because local prosecutors have limited resources.
“Every single day, law enforcement has the unenviable task of telling mothers and fathers all throughout America the devastating news that their child or loved one has died from a fentanyl-related overdose,” Pence said in a statement. “…Expanding the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program will help to stop the spread of deadly fentanyl in this country, save American lives and make our communities safer, and I am proud to be a co-lead on this important legislation.”
By Andy East,The (Columbus) Republic is a sister newspaper to the Daily Journal.
