Senator Hassan Chairs Manchester Field Hearing on Drug Trafficking

MANCHESTER – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, Chair of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee, hosted a field hearing yesterday on the need to crack down on international drug trafficking and provide more resources to law enforcement to help stop the flow of illegal drugs into communities in New Hampshire and across the country.

See below for excerpts of coverage highlights:

Union Leader: Undermanned law enforcement struggles to combat drug trafficking

By Jonathan Phelps

Photo credit: Thomas Roy/Union Leader

Former Brentwood Police Chief Ellen Arcieri knows how much street-level drug deals can devastate small towns and tax understaffed police departments.

Arcieri, commander of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force, spoke before a U.S. Senate subcommittee field hearing held in the Manchester Millyard on Monday morning.

[…] U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, chair of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee, hosted the hearing on the impacts of drug trafficking, which is a nationwide issue. The hearing, at the University of New Hampshire Manchester campus, addressed Mexican drug trafficking, dark-web drug trafficking, counterfeit pills and drug trafficking through the mail.

“We must secure our Southern border making sure our border security and law enforcement personnel have the resources and support they need,” she said.

Hassan, who previously traveled to China and the Mexican border to learn about drug trafficking, recently introduced bipartisan legislation to increase penalties for drug dealers and strengthen the United States’ efforts to crack down on illegal drug trafficking through the dark web, according to the senator’s office. […]

WMUR: Drug cartels targeting children in New Hampshire, law enforcement officials say

By Amy Coveno

Law enforcement officials testified Monday at a rare U.S. Senate field hearing in New Hampshire that Mexican drug cartels are targeting children.

Officials said the flow of deadly, addictive drugs into New Hampshire continues to pose a challenge.

[…] The race for funding to keep up with the agility of drug cartels that are not bound by rules or budgets is an ongoing struggle, said U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire.

"We just have to keep at this with everything we've got," Hassan said. "You all are on the front lines, and so are the men and women that you lead, and we are very grateful to all of you."

Law enforcement officials said more funding is needed for field testing equipment and personnel, along with continued congressional support.

Manchester Ink Link: Hassan chairs U.S. Senate subcommittee meeting on drug trafficking in Manchester

By Andrew Sylvia

On Monday morning, a special hearing of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee was held at UNH Manchester, discussing the evolving threat of illegal drug trafficking in New Hampshire.

Chaired by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and accompanied by U.S. Representatives Chris Pappas (D-NH-01) and Annie Kuster (D-NH-02), the hearing sought answers from several local and federal law enforcement officials working to stem the tide of opioid-related drugs such as fentanyl in the Granite State.

Hassan noted portions of the recent annual defense bill she crafted with U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) to penalize countries that do not assist the U.S. in attacking opioid manufacturing criminal organizations. […]

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