WICHITA, Kans. - The Drug Enforcement Administration Wichita Resident Office announced today the launch of Operation Engage, a new comprehensive law enforcement and prevention initiative aimed at reducing drug use, abuse, and overdose deaths.
Operation Engage allows participating DEA divisions to focus on the biggest drug threat and resulting violence in their respective geographic areas. DEA Wichita was one of the 11 regions selected nationally by DEA and will focus its efforts on opioids and methamphetamine abuse.
“DEA is most successful when we are connected with the communities we serve. For Wichita, this means working with our law enforcement partners in the Wichita Police Department, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office," said Greg Anderson, DEA Wichita Resident Agent in Charge. “In an effort to help solve this public health issue, we must build on the excellent work of the Wichita Metro Crime Commission, as well as community groups like League 42, the Boy Scouts, Girls on the Run, and the Wichita Athletics Track Club. We hope these efforts will support our youth, reduce drug use, and help make our community an even better place to live, work and raise a family."
“We are delighted to be a part of the DEA’s Operation Engage," states Mike Hill, President of the Wichita Metro Crime Commission. “We have worked closely with the DEA in the past on drug initiatives for our community and share their commitment to working with local youth programs to help educate our area young people on the dangers of illicit drugs. These groups work one-on-one with many at-risk youth, and we are eager to support them in any way possible."
According to recently released statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, more than 83,000 people died of a drug overdose in the United States from June 2019 to July 2020, a 24 percent increase from the previous year and the most recorded in a 12-month period. While this increase began prior to the COVID-19 health emergency, it accelerated significantly during the first months of the pandemic. The vast majority of deaths involve illicitly manufactured fentanyl, including fentanyl analogs. In addition, overdose deaths involving methamphetamine increased almost 35% in the past year.
DEA works every day to target and take down the drug trafficking organizations flooding American communities with illegal drugs. Confronting this public health crisis requires a strategy to reduce demand in those communities.
“Drug abuse has a huge negative impact in our community," said Anderson. “Reducing illicit drug use is a key to a healthier society. We can’t meet that objective as a nation without reducing American’s dependence on and demand for illicit drugs. That’s what Operation Engage is all about."
The Operation Engage initiative encourages partnerships with healthcare professionals, as well as engagement with community and social service organizations best positioned to provide long-term assistance and support for building drug-free communities.
For more information, visit the Operation Engage Wichita webpage at https://www.dea.gov/engage/operation-engage-wichita.
The Wichita Resident Office is part of DEA St. Louis Division.
