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September 7, 2021
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program
Administeredby the White House's Office of National
Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the HIDTA program
provides assistanceto law enforcement agencies-at the
federal, state, local, and tribal levels-that are operating in
regions of the United States that have been deemed as
critical drug trafficking regions. Theprogramaims to
reduce drug production and trafficking through
promoting coordination and information sharing among
federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement;
bolstering intelligence sharing among federal, state,
local, and tribal law enforcement;
disseminating reliable intelligence to law enforcement
agencies to help themdesign effective enforcement
operations and strategies; and
promoting coordinated law enforcement strategies that
rely upon available resources to reduce illegaldrug
supplies notonly in a given area, but also throughout the
country.
The HIDTA programdoes not focus on a specific drug
threat, such as heroin trafficking; rather, funds are used to
support the mostpressing drug-related initiatives in each
region. These range frommultiagency enforcement
initiatives involving investigation, interdiction, and
pros ecution to drug use prevention and treatment initiatives.
Congress initially created the HIDTA programthrough the
Anti-Drug AbuseActof 1988 (P.L. 100-690). It was
permanently authorized through the Office of National
Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 (P.L.
109-469).
HIDTA Designations
The Director of ONDCP has the authority to designate
areas within the United States that are centers of illeg al
drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution
as HIDTAs. Four main criteria are considered when
designating an area as an HIDTA (see21 U.S.C. § 1706):
the extent to which [1] the area is a significant
center of illegal drug production, manufacturing,
importation, or distribution; [2] State, local, and
tribal law enforcement agencies have committed
resources to respond to the drug trafficking problem
in the area, thereby indicating a determination to
respond aggressively to the problem; [3] drug-
related activities in the area are having a significant
harmful impact in the area, and in other areas of the
country; and [4] a significant increase in allocation
of Federal resources is necessary to respond
adequately to drug related activities in the area.
The HIDTA programuses counties as the geographic unit
of inclusion in the program. To begin the designation
process, a coalition of law enforcement agencies may
petition the Director of ONDCP for their county to be
included in an HIDTA.
There are currently 33 designated HIDTAs in the United
States and its territories, and ONDCP indicates that of the
100 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States,
99 are included in areas designated as HIDTAs. (See CRS
Report R45188, cited below).
HIDTA Coordination
At the nationallevel, the HIDTA programis administered
by ONDCP. However, each of the HIDTA regions is
governed by its own Executive Board, which consists of
representatives fromparticipating federal, state, local, and
tribal agencies (if applicable), and there must be an equal
proportion of federal and nonfederal representatives.
Additional nonvoting members fromnonparticipating
agencies or associations are allowed. Each Executive Boaid
is required to meet four times each year. Among other
duties, eachboard is responsible forproviding direction and
oversight in establishing and achieving the goals of the
HIDTA, managing the funds of the HIDTA, and s electing
the HIDTA director for the region.
The Executive Boards have the discretion to design and
implement initiatives to address specific drug trafficking
threats in theirregions. This allows aboard to tailor its
strategy and reassess its initiatives torespondto changes in
localdrug threats. Each board is also responsible for
ongoing evaluation of the HIDTA's initiatives. The
evaluation considers whether each initiative is in
compliance with overall HIDTA programrequirements,
effectively implementing the HIDTA's strategy, achieving
the performance standards negotiated for the HIDTA, and
productive enough to merit continued funding fromthat
particular HIDTA.
HIDTA Funding
Funding for the HIDTA programis provided by a direct
appropriation to the HIDTA subaccount under the ONDCP
account. For FY2021, Congress provided $290.0 million for
the HIDTA programthro ugh the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021(P.L. 116-260). From the total
HIDTA programappropriation, each HIDTA receives a
base amount of funding calculated, in part, on its previous
annual funding and HIDTA size (ranging from$2.5 million
to nearly $16.3 million in FY2020) to support initiatives in
its region. The remainder of the overall HIDTA
appropriation is allocated to HIDTAs based on specific
priorities throughout the country-determined collectively
by the HIDTA directors and ONDCP.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/goveelq0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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