December 19, 2012

 Washington, D.C.- Nevada Senator Harry Reid issued the following statement after the Nevada High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Southern Nevada Drug Task Force (SNDTF) received an award for Outstanding Investigative Effort from the White House Drug Policy Office. The SNDTF led an investigative effort that resulted in the dismantlement of three distinct yet connected major drug trafficking organizations. Senator Reid was responsible for securing bill language which started HIDTA in Nevada in 2001.

“I am pleased that the White House has recognized what Nevadans have known for a long time: Southern Nevada’s Drug Task Force is making a difference in keeping our communities and state safe from the scourge of drug trafficking and drug related crimes,” said Reid. “Each day, the men and women of SNDTF fight to keep drugs off our streets and their investigations have helped significantly dismantle the drug trade. Nevadans and all Americans owe the members of SNDTF a debt of gratitude.

According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the SNDTF seized approximately 480 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 60,000 outdoor marijuana plants. They arrested 35 suspects, indicted all 35, and subsequently got 33 convictions, in which every one of the suspects got prison time. These seizures directly affected the drug trade in Southern Nevada and the many states to which these groups were shipping drugs, including Colorado, Washington, Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana.