Primghar, Iowa — As a part of her 99 County Tour, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst held a roundtable discussion in O’Brien County on Monday with the new director of the Midwest High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Dan Neill, Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller, and other local law enforcement officials to discuss the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
Ernst says that due to a wide-open southern border, cartels have turned drug trafficking into a multi-million dollar business, with fentanyl flooding into every corner of our country. She says, “Iowa is not immune to this epidemic. We are feeling the devastating impact right here in our communities. Programs like the Midwest High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area are critical in helping law enforcement combat this crisis and provide our local agencies with the needed reinforcement.”
Dan Neill, the new Midwest HIDTA Director says, “All too often our police officers and first responders are dispatched to unresponsive individuals who are victims of fentanyl overdoses. These first responders are administering life-saving drugs like Narcan to those who can be saved. Unfortunately, many police officers, deputies, and paramedics arrive when it is too late, leaving families and communities to grieve their loss. Our leaders need to empower law enforcement with the tools to combat this epidemic that has been brought to our doorstep. Failure to act will only lead to more loss of life for our fellow citizens.”
The Midwest HIDTA region, comprised of 73 designated counties in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Illinois contains more than 4,300 miles of interstate highways and 300 miles of an international border, including the intersection of I-80 and I-35 in Des Moines. Three out of every four overdose deaths in the Midwest HIDTA region in 2021 involved heroin or other synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. In 2021, the Midwest HIDTA supported training for over 300 officers, agents, analysts, and support staff on drug-related subjects.
Earlier this month, Ernst joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in introducing legislation that would make the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death punishable by federal felony murder charges.
