Philly Area DAs Back Federal Funding To Fight Fentanyl

PHILADELPHIA REGION, PA —District Attorneys from all four Philadelphia suburban counties are joining forces in support of federal legislation that would increase funding to fight fentanyl trafficking.

Bucks County DA Jennifer Schorn, Montgomery County DA Kevin R. Steele, Chester County’s Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe, and Delaware County’s Jack Stollsteimer are speaking out about recently introduced federal legislation that would increase funding to investigate and prosecute fentanyl traffickers.

The legislation, the HIDTA Enhancement Act of 2024, reauthorizes the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program through 2030 and increases HIDTA’s authorized funding to combat Fentanyl trafficking and aid federal prosecutors in fentanyl trafficking prosecutions.

The bi-partisan legislation was introduced on Sept. 26 by Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).

Fentanyl is a significant problem in communities across Southeastern Pennsylvania and across the United States.

In 2023, 106,876 people died from a drug overdose, with 74,088 of those deaths involving fentanyl, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The opioid overdose crisis has torn apart countless communities and families across the country, and the prevalence and availability of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances in jurisdictions nationwide have perpetuated and exacerbated this deadly epidemic.

The HIDTA Enhancement Act would help combat the ongoing opioid overdose crisis, which has tragically claimed so many lives and torn apart countless families and communities.

Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties are all members of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic HIDTA, which serves the greater Philadelphia area. HIDTA provides critical intelligence information, funding, and enhanced partnerships with state and federal law enforcement that allow drug trafficking organizations to be investigated across county and state lines.

“The partnership established through HIDTA and the funding it provides has been invaluable in combatting the trafficking of poisonous drugs like fentanyl,"Schorn said. "This reauthorization of funding is the best weapon in our arsenal in the fight against these drug traffickers.”

“Drug trafficking, especially fentanyl trafficking, remains one of our top priorities because it affects people in our communities across the county, state and country,” said DA Steele. “HIDTA funding has saved lives—continued funding for HIDTA is critical in our fight against this deadly scourge and other poisons that are still causing too many deaths and affecting far too many families," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.

Funding HIDTA is integral to bringing local, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies together as one team to take on one of the most important epidemic challenges of our time.”

For more information on the HIDTA Program for our region, please visit the Liberty Mid Atlantic HIDTA at https://lmahidta.org.