FrankRep
06-30-2010, 06:51 AM
Obama adds Austin to 'drug hub' list (http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/Obama-adds-Austin-area-to-drug-hub-list)
Local DEA office expanding to fight drug cartels
KXAN News
29 June 2010
AUSTIN (KXAN) - A new name for Austin that has come down from President Obama's office is nothing to brag about. The capitol city has been deemed an official drug hub for illegal Mexican cartels.
It is only a matter of time before it is added to the map on the White House website next to Dallas and Houston. Local Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Greg Thrash said he got the call at the end of March. It is official, Austin is now considered a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA for short.
With the new title comes more federal dollars to create a HIDTA Task Force. An extreme makeover is already underway inside the DEA headquarters in Austin. New cubicles were moved in and set up Monday, and wiring for additional phone lines are hanging out of missing ceiling tiles. Boxes of new computers sit in the front foyer, along with additional black leather rolling chairs.
The man in charge, DEA Agent Greg Thrash, will soon oversee the larger team of investigators that will be comprised of the following local departments:
* Drug Enforcement Administration
* Federal Bureau of Investigation
* U.S Marshals Service
* Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
* Internal Revenue Service
* Texas Department of Public Safety
* Bastrop County Sheriff's Office
* Round Rock Police Department
* Williamson County Sheriff's Office
* Hays County Sheriff's Office
* Georgetown Police Department
* Austin Police Department
Agent Thrash said turf wars are out the window.
"We check our badge at the door," said Thrash. "Everyone comes together as one and we attack what we've got to attack and do our mission."
The mission at hand: disrupting the illegal drug market that has been making its way up from Mexico. Austin sits in prime drug smuggling territory due to its proximity to the border and Laredo.
Last fall Austin was home to the largest drug cartel crackdown in U.S. history that branched out from Hays County, Bastrop and Pflugerville. In November, the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a warning to parents , claiming Mexican cartels were recruiting schoolchildren.
Just last month, federal investigators tapped a man's cell phone and uncovered what they called a scheme to distribute kilos of cocaine to the East Coast via Austin. The 24-year-old was later arrested and charged with shooting and killing two people at a local strip club.
The case is just one example of how curbing the drug problem can cut down on more serious crimes.
"Comes down to quality of life and containing a cancer within the country and that cancer obviously is drug abuse and trafficking," said Thrash.
Austin's new drug designation is not a reason for Agent Thrash to believe the problem has gotten a lot worse.
"I think the problem was here two, three, even four years ago," said Thrash. "It's escalated for obvious reasons because of what's going on in Mexico and along the border, but I think we've exposed it more in the last couple years due to the relationships and the sharing of information."
SOURCE:
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/Obama-adds-Austin-area-to-drug-hub-list
Local DEA office expanding to fight drug cartels
KXAN News
29 June 2010
AUSTIN (KXAN) - A new name for Austin that has come down from President Obama's office is nothing to brag about. The capitol city has been deemed an official drug hub for illegal Mexican cartels.
It is only a matter of time before it is added to the map on the White House website next to Dallas and Houston. Local Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Greg Thrash said he got the call at the end of March. It is official, Austin is now considered a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA for short.
With the new title comes more federal dollars to create a HIDTA Task Force. An extreme makeover is already underway inside the DEA headquarters in Austin. New cubicles were moved in and set up Monday, and wiring for additional phone lines are hanging out of missing ceiling tiles. Boxes of new computers sit in the front foyer, along with additional black leather rolling chairs.
The man in charge, DEA Agent Greg Thrash, will soon oversee the larger team of investigators that will be comprised of the following local departments:
* Drug Enforcement Administration
* Federal Bureau of Investigation
* U.S Marshals Service
* Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
* Internal Revenue Service
* Texas Department of Public Safety
* Bastrop County Sheriff's Office
* Round Rock Police Department
* Williamson County Sheriff's Office
* Hays County Sheriff's Office
* Georgetown Police Department
* Austin Police Department
Agent Thrash said turf wars are out the window.
"We check our badge at the door," said Thrash. "Everyone comes together as one and we attack what we've got to attack and do our mission."
The mission at hand: disrupting the illegal drug market that has been making its way up from Mexico. Austin sits in prime drug smuggling territory due to its proximity to the border and Laredo.
Last fall Austin was home to the largest drug cartel crackdown in U.S. history that branched out from Hays County, Bastrop and Pflugerville. In November, the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a warning to parents , claiming Mexican cartels were recruiting schoolchildren.
Just last month, federal investigators tapped a man's cell phone and uncovered what they called a scheme to distribute kilos of cocaine to the East Coast via Austin. The 24-year-old was later arrested and charged with shooting and killing two people at a local strip club.
The case is just one example of how curbing the drug problem can cut down on more serious crimes.
"Comes down to quality of life and containing a cancer within the country and that cancer obviously is drug abuse and trafficking," said Thrash.
Austin's new drug designation is not a reason for Agent Thrash to believe the problem has gotten a lot worse.
"I think the problem was here two, three, even four years ago," said Thrash. "It's escalated for obvious reasons because of what's going on in Mexico and along the border, but I think we've exposed it more in the last couple years due to the relationships and the sharing of information."
SOURCE:
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/Obama-adds-Austin-area-to-drug-hub-list