Jefferson County has been designated a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area by the federal government, becoming the 19th West Virginia county to receive the status, which lets the county receive federal resources to develop drug control efforts among federal, state and local law enforcement officials.

“For those working to fight this epidemic on the ground, this program will increase coordination of efforts across West Virginia. Most importantly, these new tools and resources will protect communities and residents in Jefferson County from the influx of drugs in that area,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who helped secure Jefferson County’s designation.

Congress created the HIDTA program in 1988 to provide assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. The HIDTA designation will also allow local agencies in Jefferson to benefit from ongoing HIDTA-coordinated initiatives working to reduce drug use and its consequences across the United States.

“As heroin trafficking and abuse rates continue to climb, it is absolutely critical that our local law enforcement officials and drug task forces have the resources they need to combat the influx of drugs coming into our state,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.. “This important designation will ensure that HIDTA resources will be available for those who are on the frontlines of this fight in Jefferson County, where the growing number of heroin trafficking cases is particularly alarming.”

Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Harrison, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Ohio, Putnam, Raleigh, Wayne and Wyoming are also HIDTA-designated counties. Last year, Mason County, where growing marijuana is prevalent, was removed from the state’s HIDTA list in an effort to focus on areas hit by opioids and heroin.