Puerto R. will receive funds to combat drug trafficking | The USA Print

The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, Jenniffer González Colón, announced this Friday a federal injection of more than 10 million dollars to combat drug trafficking on the islanda place of transit for contraband from Latin America to the United States.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) awarded 10,577,433 to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands for the Areas of Drug traffic High Intensity (Hidta), according to the statement.

Hidta was created by the US Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and provides assistance to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical regions of drug traffic.

“A large part of my agenda has been focused on the area of ​​security, especially on fighting drug trafficking, which is directly related to the crimes we see in the streets,” said the commissioner.

González Colón stressed that “Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands are the nation’s border in the Caribbean, to combat illicit drugs that come from Latin America”.

It is estimated that between 70 and 80% of the drugs that arrive on these islands are later transported to the continental US states.

Last November, the governor of Puerto RicoPedro Pierluisi, asked the US president, Joe Biden, for more resources to combat the entry of drugs to the island, after the death of a federal agent in an exchange of shots with drug traffickers.

The governor maintained that the level of violence that exists in Puerto Rico This is due in large part to the island’s strategic location, as it is a transshipment point for illegal drug smuggling from Central and South America, as well as other Caribbean islands, to the US.

On the other hand, the commissioner reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with a total of 34.8 million dollars, is supporting reconstruction efforts of various agencies in Puerto Rico.

Most of the funds are for the Department of Education, in order to carry out permanent works in two schools in the southern municipalities of Guánica and Ponce that suffered structural damage due to the 2020 earthquakes.

Also benefiting from this item are the Institute of Forensic Sciences and the Administration of Medical Services of Puerto Ricoboth for damages related to the passage of Hurricane María in 2017.