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$70M a year proposed for local fentanyl‑trafficking task forces
The Justice Department could distribute grants through its COPS program to help state, local and tribal investigators hire staff, expand joint task forces and buy equipment for opioid cases.
Drug investigations rarely stay inside one city’s borders. Fentanyl and other opioids often move through regional networks that stretch across counties or even state lines, leaving local police departments to coordinate complex cases with limited resources.
Legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would authorize the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services office, known as COPS, to award grants aimed at helping officers locate, investigate and interdict illicit opioid‑distribution activity that crosses those boundaries.
Money aimed at investigators on the ground
The proposal from Representative Rick Larsen of Washington would place the new grants inside the Justice Department’s long‑running COPS program under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. That framework already channels federal policing funds to state and local agencies, and the bill would add a grant category focused specifically on opioid trafficking.
Eligibility would extend beyond state governments. States, state law‑enforcement agencies, units of local government, Indian Tribes, multi‑jurisdictional task forces and regional consortia could all apply for the funding. Larsen introduced the bill with three cosponsors, including Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Representative Dan Newhouse and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, forming a bipartisan sponsor group.
Applying for the grants
To receive funding, an eligible agency or partnership would have to submit an application to the COPS Director explaining how the money would be used and how the proposed work would advance the goal of locating and disrupting illicit opioid distribution.
Grant recipients would also be required to maintain program and financial records and provide data the Justice Department requests. The reporting is meant to show how the funds are spent and what investigative work the grants support as agencies pursue opioid trafficking networks that operate across multiple jurisdictions.