Letter to Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy - Drug Abuse in New Hampshire
Letter
Michael Botticelli
Director
Office of National Drug Control Policy
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Director Botticelli:
I write to express my support for the designation and inclusion of Rockingham County, NH in the New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, County Attorney's Office and County Chiefs of Police Association, along with the United States Attorney for New Hampshire and Drug Enforcement Administration deployed in New Hampshire have submitted a petition requesting the aforementioned designation as an HIDTA.
Rockingham County has a population of 295,223 and encompasses 794 square miles. Interstate 95 and Interstate 93 both run through the county and serve as pipelines to send drugs from Southern New England to the Northern Border states and distribute currency procured through the sale of narcotics. In recent years, the threat and danger posed by opiates, primarily heroin and prescription drugs, has drastically increased according to both law enforcement and public health officials, who note that regional treatment admission rates for the abuse of these drugs is among the highest in the country. While Rockingham County law enforcement officers are committed to developing an effective response to the growing epidemic, federal resources are necessary to combat this crisis.
The HIDTA designation and related support from the ONDCP would enable increased cooperation among local, state, and federal officials to combat the sale and use of heroin and other illegal drugs. In particular, under HIDTA Rockingham County would be better positioned to conduct coordinated interdictions along the state's border with Massachusetts and investigators would have the tools and resources they need to identify and attack the vulnerabilities in the supply, transportation systems, and financial infrastructure of major drug trafficking organizations, including Mexican cartels, known to be operating in the region.
I support the inclusion of Rockingham County in the New England HIDTA and urge you to grant the petition for designation submitted by law enforcement organizations in the county. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Shaheen
United States Senate
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