BUTTE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Butte County through the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force has been designated the newest county in the nation to be considered a Federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) today announced the addition of six counties to the ONDCP-funded High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. Butte County will join with 12 existing counties in Central Valley California HIDTA.

Butte County District Attorney and BINTF Board Chairperson Mike Ramsey said the designation will provide Butte County new federal resources to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking locally and regionally. “We are very grateful for this designation, and it will greatly assist in our efforts to blunt the effects of the deadly drugs we see in our community.”

This was a competitive grant designation in which Butte County and only five other counties nationwide (all east of the Mississippi River) were chosen out of approximately 50 other counties who had applied for the grant this year. 

Ramsey said, “It is a testament to the quality of the agents at BINTF and local law enforcement’s commitment to stop the scourge of drugs in our community.” As noted in previous BINTF press releases to the community, BINTF has documented the increasing death rate over the past few years from methamphetamine and fentanyl overdoses.