Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced Operation
Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), a new program that seeks to reduce the supply
of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas and to identify wholesale
distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers.
As part of Operation S.O.S., the Department will launch an
enforcement surge in ten districts with some of the highest drug overdose death
rates. Each participating United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) will choose a
specific county and prosecute every readily provable case involving the
distribution of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and other synthetic opioids,
regardless of drug quantity. The surge will involve a coordinated DEA Special
Operations Division operation to insure that leads from street-level cases are
used to identify larger scale distributors. Operation S.O.S. was inspired by a
promising initiative of the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle
District of Florida involving Manatee County, Florida.
"We at the Department of Justice are going to dismantle
these deadly fentanyl distribution networks. Simply put, we will be tireless
until we reduce the number of overdose deaths in this country. We are going to
focus on some of the worst counties for opioid overdose deaths in the United
States, working all cases until we have disrupted the supply of these deadly
drugs," Attorney General Sessions said. "In 2016, synthetic opioids
killed more Americans than any other kind of drug. Three milligrams of fentanyl
can be fatal--that's not even enough to cover up Lincoln's face on a penny. Our
prosecutors in Manatee County, Florida have shown that prosecuting seemingly
small synthetic opioids cases can have a big impact and save lives, and we want
to replicate their success in the districts that need it most. Operation
S.O.S.—and the new prosecutors who will help carry it out—will help us put more
traffickers behind bars and keep the American people safe from the threat of
these deadly drugs."
In addition, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task
Forces (OCDETF) Executive Office will send an additional two-year term
Assistant United States Attorney to each participating district to assist with
drug-related prosecutions.
The ten participating districts are:
Eastern District of
California
Eastern District
of Kentucky
District of Maine
District of New
Hampshire
Northern District
of Ohio
Southern District
of Ohio
Western District
of Pennsylvania
Eastern District
of Tennessee
Northern District
of West Virginia
Southern District
of West Virginia
In Manatee County, a county just south of Tampa with a
population of about 320,000, overdoses and deaths skyrocketed in 2015 (780
overdoses/84 opioid related deaths) and 2016 (1,287 overdoses/123 opioid related
deaths). In summer of 2016, local law enforcement reported frequent,
street-level distribution of fentanyl and carfentanil for the first time.
To combat this crisis, the Middle District of Florida
committed to prosecuting every readily provable drug distribution case
involving synthetic opioids in Manatee County regardless of drug quantity. The
effort resulted in the indictments of forty five traffickers of synthetic
opioids. Further, from the last six months of 2016 to the last six months of
2017, overdoses dropped by 77.1% and deaths dropped by 74.2%. Overall, the
Manatee County Sheriff’s Office went from responding to 11 overdoses a day to
an average now of less than one per day.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment