2009 Triangle HIDTA: Combating Criminal Narcotics Activity Stemming from the Southern Border

The State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program: Combating Criminal Narcotics Activity Stemming from the Southern border of the United States under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is designed to provide resources for hiring, retention, assistance, and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas in order to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border of the United States. For the purpose of this solicitation, the term 'criminal narcotics activity' includes all drugs controlled by the Controlled Substance Act 21 USC Section 801.

Under Category I: Combating Criminal Narcotics Activity, the city of Durham will supoprt the Durham Police Department's Triangle High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (Triangle HIDTA). The Triangle HIDTA, a subset of the Atlanta HIDTA, will improve its intelligence collection capability in order to identify Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO) operating in its Area of Responsibility and surrounding jurisdictions. The Triangle HIDTA will successfully disrupt and dismantle identified Mexican DTOs, thereby reducing drug-related crimes and increasing the safety of the citizens of Durham and its neighboring counties.

The Southern Border grant will support the establishment of a permanent Spanish language drug trafficking tip line manned for twelve hours per day by vetted Spanish speaking interpreters. The tip line will enable the development of confidential sources from the Hispanic community and for an increased level of intelligence collection capability in Durham County and surrounding areas. The funds will also develop a database to store and disseminate collected intelligence to narcotics officers throughout the state of North Carolina. The award will pay for the cost to advertise the tip line over Hispanic radio stations throughout the Durham area. Finally, the city of Durham will hire an intelligence analyst to collect and disseminate the intelligence to narcotics officers located throughout the five-county Triangle HIDTA and beyond.

CA/CF