PA State Police awarded nearly $6M to combat illegal drugs

Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris this week announced that his department received two federal grants totaling more than $5.9 million to combat the distribution of controlled substances in Pennsylvania communities.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) awarded the state police a grant of $3,986,394 under its Anti-Heroin Task Force program (AHTF) and $1,941,62 under its Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP).

”Troopers regularly come face-to-face with the toll of illegal drugs on our communities, from overdoses to drug-related crime,” Colonel Paris said. “These funds will aid our efforts to identify the criminals who manufacture illicit drugs and the dealers who distribute them.”

The AHTF program provides funds to state law enforcement agencies with high rates of treatment admissions for heroin and other opioids. CAMP provides funding to states with high seizures of “precursor chemicals, finished methamphetamine, laboratories, and laboratory waste dumps,” according to the state police’s announcement.

The State Police said it would use the grants to “locate and investigate illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, as well as the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.” The funding will also allow for the training of officers to “enhance the safety of troopers who respond to, dismantle, and dispose of illegal drug laboratories discovered in the Commonwealth.”

In 2022, state troopers reported seizing $65.4 million worth of illegal drugs, including $7.5 million in fentanyl, $6.9 million in methamphetamine, and $2 million in heroin. From January 1 to September 30, 2023, State Police also reported seizing over $52.2 million in illegal drugs, including $3.5 million in fentanyl, $4.7 million in methamphetamine, and $928,000 in heroin.