WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and Representative John McHugh have continued their push to bring more federal resources to combat the drug smuggling networks in Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. In support of the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program's application to expand the designation to the four North Country counties, the legislators personally urged the Office of National Drug Control Policy to accept the application. In September, the three legislators introduced legislation in Congress that would expand the designation.

Such a designation would provide federal resources to increase communication between state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies so that they can disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organizations in the region.

Smugglers increasingly take advantage of the region's transportation networks to move Canadian hydroponic marijuana into the United States through the four counties. The marijuana is then transported downstate to Syracuse and Albany, where it is sold to drug traffickers, often from New York City, who further distribute it throughout the nation.  Cocaine and heroin also pose significant threats to the New York/New Jersey HIDTA region.  The legislation is intended to disrupt these trafficking networks.