Washington D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency has been awarded a total of $931,880 to combat the opioid abuse crisis throughout the state.  This funding was awarded through the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF) Program.

“While we continue our efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we must not relent in our efforts to address the ongoing opioid crisis, which affects far too many families in Maine,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement.  “This important funding will help to ensure that Maine’s law enforcement officers have the resources they need to help keep our communities safe.”

AHTF provides three years of funding directly to state-level law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach and interdisciplinary team structures in states with high per capita rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and other opioids.  This funding will support the location or investigation of illicit activities through statewide collaboration related to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins worked to secure $35 million for the Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF) Program in the fiscal year 2020 funding package.