(File Photo of Lawrence County Courthouse)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced that Lawrence County has been officially designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
According to Chung, Lawrence County is being utilized by multi-jurisdictional drug traffickers as a destination for the large-scale distribution of controlled substances into Lawrence and the surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The large number of illegal drug users, the network of bisecting highways and interstates, and a perceived lack of sanctions against drug traffickers has made Lawrence County an easy and attractive target for Drug Trafficking Organizations.
Lawrence joins five other western Pennsylvania counties – Allegheny, Beaver, Washington, Westmoreland, and Erie – in receiving dedicated federal resources to coordinate federal, state, and local governments to fight drug trafficking and abuse.