South Bend, Ind. — U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly today announced that LaPorte County has received a federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) designation by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office submitted the application, which Donnelly proudly supported, to join with the existing HIDTA in Lake County, Indiana. This designation will allow LaPorte County to access federal resources to combat drug operations and increase enforcement while also improving prevention efforts to enhance the region’s public health response.

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, who wrote a letter of support to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said, “As Indiana, and our country, fight the drug epidemics that are devastating families and communities, I was proud to support LaPorte County in applying for this designation that will bring resources to help law enforcement combat drug trafficking.”

Donnelly believes it will take cooperation at every level of government, along with community partners, to provide a comprehensive response to the drug epidemic by rooting out drug traffickers, expanding prevention efforts, and increasing access to treatment and recovery services.

Lake and Porter counties were previously the only HIDTA designated counties in Indiana. With the Office of National Drug Control Policy approving applications from both LaPorte and Marion counties to join the existing HIDTA, there is now an expanded multi-county HIDTA in Indiana.

Created by Congress in 1988, the HIDTA program serves as a catalyst for coordination among federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug trafficking regions of the United States. Law enforcement organizations working within HIDTAs assess drug-trafficking issues and design specific initiatives to decrease the production, transportation, distribution, and chronic use of drugs and money laundering.

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