New Mexico State Police Nationally Recognized for Drug Interdiction Efforts
On February 8, 2018, the New Mexico State Police (NMSP) was nationally recognized in Washington, D.C. for the department’s exceptional efforts in drug interdiction. The NMSP was selected from more than one hundred nominations to receive an award for “Outstanding Interdiction Effort” from the National HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas) Initiative, and will be recognized along with the other National HIDTA Award winners.
Winning a National HIDTA Award is an impressive achievement. The NMSP is receiving this award for the department’s aggressive efforts to combat drug trafficking. The primary unit involved in the HIDTA interdiction activities is the NMSP Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) and the main focus of interdiction is on New Mexico’s major highways (I-10, I-25, and I-40).
In the past year, the NMSP CEU has been extremely successful interdicting illicit narcotics traversing the state. This includes narcotics not only destined for New Mexico, but those traveling to other locations throughout the country as well.
These focused law enforcement efforts have disrupted several Drug Trafficking Organizations and Money Laundering Organizations both in and out of the state. In such cases, NMSP has worked with several other HIDTA initiatives and has been able to further the investigations.
The NMSP has been extremely successful interdicting large amounts of narcotics and currency, then turning those interdictions into bigger cases by working with other agencies, particularly our federal partners at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
From October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017 the New Mexico State Police HIDTA Initiative generated the following remarkable activity and seizures:
424 felony arrests
417 pounds of methamphetamine
345 pounds of cocaine
135 pounds of heroin
1,807 pounds of marijuana
3,460 pounds of hydroponic marijuana
“I’ve seen the devastation of drugs on our families and communities firsthand as a prosecutor, and I appreciate all our State Police officers do to get these dangerous drugs off the street – and put the criminals who sell and distribute them behind bars,” Governor Susana Martinez said. “Congratulations to the New Mexico State Police – results like these show how important it is that we continue to do all we can to support our law enforcement officers in fighting crime throughout the state.”
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