Rep. Robin Kelly Announces Kankakee County to Receive Additional Federal Resources for Law Enforcement to Crack Down on Illicit Drug Trafficking and Address the Overdose Epidemic

Congresswoman Robin Kelly
Congresswoman Robin Kelly

Rep. Robin Kelly Announces Kankakee County to Receive Additional Federal Resources for Law Enforcement to Crack Down on Illicit Drug Trafficking and Address the Overdose Epidemic

National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program to strengthen law enforcement operations, disrupt illicit drug trafficking

KANKAKEE, Ill. – Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02) announced Kankakee County, Illinois, will now receive additional federal resources for law enforcement to help crack down on illicit drug trafficking and address the overdose epidemic through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program. The HIDTA Program, funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), coordinates and assists federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies to address regional drug threats and reduce illicit drug production and trafficking.

Kankakee County has been identified as a prime territory for drug trafficking organizations due to its multiple interstates, state routes, and daily bus and Amtrak stops. This new designation will allow critical additional resources to be deployed to law enforcement in Kankakee County working to seize illicit drugs like fentanyl, prevent and reduce gun violence and other violent crime associated with drug trafficking, improve interdiction efforts through enhanced data sharing and targeting, and dismantle illicit finance operations.

“Drug trafficking, the gun violence and crime related to it, and the overdose epidemic has taken too many lives in the Second District and across the country,” said Rep. Kelly. “I’m grateful for the Biden-Harris Administration’s investment and focus to crack down on illicit drug trafficking. We are seeing improvement, but we know there’s more that must be done. We must keep highways and public transportation in Kankakee County safe and free of drug trafficking. By supporting the law enforcement in Kankakee County, we can expand efforts to stop the supply line of dangerous drugs like fentanyl.”

“Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has made disrupting the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs a top priority,” said White House Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta. “At President Biden and Vice President Harris’ direction, we have taken historic action and made historic investments over the past four years to strengthen law enforcement efforts and crack down on illicit drug trafficking. Under their leadership, violent crimes are at record lows, illicit drug seizures are at record highs, and after years of tragic double-digit increases, the overdose death rate has finally begun to decline. There is still more work to be done, and we are committed to ensuring that states have the critical resources they need to promote public health and public safety in their communities. Today’s action will help support law enforcement in Kankakee County and strengthen our whole-of-society effort to address the overdose epidemic and save lives.”

The HIDTA Program supports regional law enforcement efforts in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. In 2023 alone, the HIDTA Program supported law enforcement in successfully disrupting and dismantling more than 3,000 drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, removing more than $17 billion of illegal drugs from the market (including more than 9,000 kilograms and more than 117 million pills of fentanyl), and seizing $641.9 million from drug traffickers. HIDTAs also collaborate closely with public health partners on innovative strategies to reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses and substance use. Earlier this summer, amid record declines in violent crime nationwide, the Biden-Harris Administration announced over $276 million in new funding for the HIDTA Program. Preliminary data from the first half of this year show that violent crime is continuing to drop at record levels in America, and is at a 50-year low.

President Biden and Vice President Harris have made cracking down on illicit drug trafficking and holding drug traffickers accountable a key priority in the whole-of-society effort to address the overdose epidemic and save lives. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has increased resources and cutting-edge drug detection technology at the border, taken more law enforcement action against drug traffickers and their key enablers that operate around the globe, and strengthened global action in the fight against synthetic opioids. The Biden-Harris Administration has invested $2.5 billion more than the previous administration to reduce the supply of illicit drugs, including funding to strengthen border security, illicit drug seizures, and interdiction efforts. The Biden-Harris Administration has also increased funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s drug interdiction efforts by nearly 15% compared to the previous administration, and stopped more illicit fentanyl at ports of entry in the past two fiscal years than in the previous five fiscal years combined.

At the same time, the Biden-Harris Administration has also removed decades-long barriers to treatment for substance use disorder and expanded access to life-saving overdose reversal medications to help address the overdose epidemic and save lives. When President Biden and Vice President Harris took office in January 2021, the number of overdose deaths were increasing 31% year-over-year. Today, according to the latest provisional data released from the CDC last week, overdose deaths decreased by about 10% year-over-year (in the 12-months ending April 2024). This is the largest decrease on record and the fifth consecutive month of reported decreases in predicted 12-month total numbers of drug overdose deaths. There is still much more work to be done, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to continuing to build on this progress to address the nation’s overdose epidemic and save lives.

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