White House awards law enforcement for combatting illicit drug trafficking

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) on Friday awarded law enforcement officials and agencies for their work in disrupting the flow of illicit drugs, like fentanyl, into the country.

The United States Interdiction Coordinator (USIC) Awards recognized work in areas including cyber investigations, domestic investigations, international investigations, emerging threats, highway interdictions and maritime interdictions.

“Since Day One, President Biden has taken historic action and made historic investments to support law enforcement and drug-related crime prevention as part of his whole-of-society effort to address the overdose epidemic,” ONDCP Director Rahul Gupta said in a statement.

“I’m proud to honor the heroic efforts of these law enforcement leaders today who are working tirelessly around the clock to prevent deadly drugs from reaching our communities and hurting vulnerable Americans,” he added. “The Biden-Harris Administration is grateful for their steadfast partnership, and will continue to support life-saving law enforcement efforts to reduce overdoses, deprive drug traffickers of their profits, and keep Americans safe.”

The entities recognized on Friday included the Los Angeles FBI Field Office, the Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, DEA Miami Counternarcotic Cyber Investigations Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Coast Guard.

These offices conducted investigations targeting darknet drug vendors, dismantled regional drug trafficking operations and disrupted complicit international money brokers picking up illicit funds.

“We’re luck to have you on our team. And the traffickers are really unlucky to be going up against you. And just like Apollo 11 prevailed, we will prevail,” Gupta said to the award recipients during the awards ceremony.