The Office of National Drug Control Policy has added Washington County to the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).

The program helps coordinate federal, state, and local law enforcement resources and intelligence to tackle drug trafficking and other public safety impacts of substance abuse. Washington is the 11th County in Maryland to be designated under HIDTA.

The Herald-Mail reports:

The designation allows those counties — 11 of which are in states that are part of the HIDTA Heroin Response Strategy, including the Washington/Baltimore region — to receive federal assistance to improve coordination and development of drug-control efforts among all levels of law enforcement.

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“The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program is an important part of this administration’s work to expand community-based efforts to prevent drug use, pursue ‘smart on crime’ approaches to drug enforcement, work to reduce overdose deaths, increase access to treatment, and support millions of Americans in recovery,” [Michael] Botticelli [Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy] said in the release.

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Other jurisdictions in the Washington/Baltimore region include: Loudoun, Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Alexandria, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, Prince George and Roanoke counties in Virginia, as well as the cities of Richmond and Petersburg; Harford, Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Carroll, Charles and Wicomico counties and the City of Baltimore in Maryland; and Washington, D.C.

For more information read The Herald-Mail.