Area gets awaited drug designation

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

June 25, 2009

By DENISE RAYMO The Press Republican Thu Jun 25, 2009, 03:35 PM EDT

MALONE — A new national law designates Franklin, Clinton and St. Lawrence counties as High-Intensity Drug-Trafficking Areas, making them eligible for extra federal funding.

The counties join a network of 17 other sites in New York and New Jersey that coordinate their drug-related criminal investigations and intelligence gathering with federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies.

The federal government will now finance the operation of the Franklin County Border/Narcotics Task Force.

Based on what similar counties received, the initial outlay could amount to at least $75,000 a year, said Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne.

“We used to pay for all of this with forfeiture money, but there was a county expense associated with it.

“With the federal funds, that burden to the local taxpayer to pay for the task force has been alleviated.

“This has been a huge problem for all of the states on the border geographically, where the counties and states have been feeling the tax burden for (combating smuggling) instead of the federal government,” Champagne said.

“This is an awesome service regarding the shift in that responsibility onto the federal government, where it belongs.”

The measure was introduced in October and sponsored in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. John McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and former U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and approved by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Jefferson County was also proposed as a High-Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area, but it was not included in Thursday’s announcement.

“This has been a long, tough fight, but I am so glad we have finally gotten this application approved,” Schumer said Thursday in a news release.

“We can already see the benefits of having this tough, effective, statewide crime-fighting network in place.”

He vowed to continue pursuing the designation for Jefferson County.

McHugh said he is grateful for the designation because “cross-border drug trafficking poses a significant threat to our nation. This is one of the best and most immediate things we can do to effectively meet that threat.

“Our local leaders and law enforcement are doing tremendous work but need the additional federal resources this designation will provide to fully address this situation.”

Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie was also pleased with the announcement, saying in a news release that the network “will better assist our local law-enforcement agencies in the fight against the transportation of narcotics and marijuana through Clinton County.”

Another important result of the designation, Champagne said, is that a data analyst that will be added to the network to compile information on how certain criminal activities interconnect so prosecutors can dismantle them.

“We’re already seeing where a homicide in St. Lawrence County, one in Connecticut and two in Canada were directly related to drug activities taking place in Franklin County,” Champagne said.

“This is a very complex and very dangerous smuggling corridor we’re trying to eliminate with this type of coordination and resources.”

It was also critical to gain the designation, he said, so the operation can be self-sufficient and continue in the border region for years, no matter who is elected to the prosecutor’s office.

That way, Champagne said, there are no politics involved and the attention can remain on ending the smuggling of international currency, marijuana, cocaine and illegal aliens.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at:

draymo@pressrepublican.com