London, KY: The Executive Director of Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (AHIDTA), Vic Brown, has announced that Casey Cox, Sheriff of Cumberland County, Tennessee, has been unanimously elected to serve as Vice-Chair of the 2022 AHIDTA Executive Board. The Vice-Chair rotates into the Chair position the following year. Therefore, Sheriff Cox will serve as the Chairman for 2023.
The AHIDTA Executive Board provides executive leadership and direction on a multitude of issues pertaining to drug enforcement throughout the AHIDTA area of responsibility, which includes 94 designated counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). A component of the Executive Office of the President, ONDCP, was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. ONDCP advises the President on drug-control issues, coordinates drug-control activities and related funding across the Federal government, and produces the annual National Drug Control Strategy, which outlines Administration efforts to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences.
Appalachia HIDTA is an important component of the President’s National Drug Control Strategy, which provides additional federal resources to help eliminate or reduce drug trafficking and its harmful consequences. Law enforcement organizations within HIDTA assess drug trafficking problems and design specific initiatives to reduce or eliminate the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution, and chronic use of illegal drugs, as well as money laundering.
Director Brown said, “Sheriff Casey Cox is a well-respected law enforcement professional. Sheriff Cox’s demeanor, leadership, and expertise will benefit the Appalachia HIDTA Executive Board”.
Sheriff Casey Cox will be leading a very prestigious group of law enforcement leaders throughout Appalachia HIDTA’ s area of responsibility.