TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - The Department of Justice‘s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
(COPS Office) Tuesday announced nearly $42 million in funding to support state-level law
enforcement agencies in combating the illegal manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine,
heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and prescription opioids.
In the Northern District of Florida, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will receive
$2,208,052.00 million in funding to support investigations into trafficking in heroin, fentanyl, or
carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.
“The award of this funding to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is a tangible demonstration
of the Justice Department and U.S Attorneys’ commitment to our partnerships with law enforcement
agencies at all levels. We will continue to implement every tool at our disposal to combat the
national epidemic of opioid abuse and misuse," said Lawrence Keefe,
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
“The scourge of opioid and methamphetamine use continues to take a devastating toll on our nation’s
communities," said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “By providing these resources to law
enforcement to help combat the further spread, the COPS Office is demonstrating our commitment to
this Administration’s priority of reducing drug use and protecting our citizens from this public
health and safety crisis."
Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue to increase in the United States. Deaths
from drug overdose are up among both men and women, all races, and adults of nearly all ages, with
more than three out of five drug overdose deaths involving an opioid. More than 130 people die
every day in the United States after overdosing on opioids, while methamphetamine continues to be
one of the most commonly misused stimulant drugs in the world and is the drug
that most contributes to violent crime.
The COPS Office is awarding more than $29.7 million in grant funding to 14 state law enforcement
agency task forces through the Anti-Heroin Task Force Program (AHTF). AHTF provides three years
of funding directly to state-level law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach and
interdisciplinary team (e.g., task force) structures, in states with high per capita rates of primary
treatment admissions for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and other opioids. This funding will support
the location or investigation of illicit activities through statewide collaboration related to the distribution
of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.
Through the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP), the COPS Office is also awarding
$12 million to 12 state law enforcement agencies. These state agencies have demonstrated numerous
seizures of precursor chemicals, finished methamphetamine, laboratories, and laboratory dump
seizures. State agencies are being awarded three years of funding through CAMP to support the
location or investigation of illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of
methamphetamine, including precursor diversion, laboratories, or methamphetamine trafficking.
The AHTF and CAMP funding has a tremendous impact on state investigative and seizure work. During
the five month period between October 2019 and February 2020, current AHTF grantees reported the
seizure of over $4 million in cash and 1,213 firearms. Similarly, for CAMP, grantees reported
seizures of more than $7 million in cash and 1,577 firearms.
The complete list of Anti-Heroin Task Force Program award recipients, including funding amounts,
can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/ahtf
The complete list of COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program award recipients, including funding amounts,
can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/camp
The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since
1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including
grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the
hiring and redeployment of approximately 135,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge
resource products including publications, training and technical assistance. For additional
information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the
history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that
serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access
available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for
the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
