Harford County won White House approval on June 20 to join a regional drug task force, the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), that will direct additional federal resources to the county’s drug interdiction effort. As reported by the Baltimore Sun:

The HIDTA program was created in 1990 to go after hot spots for large-scale drug trafficking in Los Angeles, Houston and New York. They are now located in 46 states, as well as in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Created in 1994, the Baltimore-Washington HIDTA includes Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s and Charles counties. The area also includes Washington and more than a dozen counties and cities in Virginia.

Harford County has sought inclusion in the group since the mid-1990s.