Area agencies are gathering support from counties within the judicial district and are also turning to politicians to help them qualify for the federal designation, plus the resources it can bring.
Thursday, Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn hit up the city council for a resolution authorizing the police department to cooperate with Montrose and Delta counties in seeking the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, designation from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
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Chinn and Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee said Thursday that significant drug-ring busts locally since last December underscore the need for HIDTA designation.
Last December, several alleged members of the Sinaloa drug cartel were arrested in Montrose and Delta counties.
Another significant bust occurred in June, with five arrested as part of a multi-agency investigation.
In October, simultaneous drug-enforcement actions led five arrests in Montrose and Telluride, as well as to the seizure of 15 pounds of presumed cocaine.
Also in October, Project Coronado, a massive, nationwide federal drug investigation, broke up what authorities called a West Slope drug ring, with six arrests in the region. These arrests were thought linked to the La Familia cartel.
"The thing we're looking for is resources. We have major drug trafficking going on through the highway corridors that criss-cross the counties," McKee said. "We need the manpower and the monetary resources that HIDTA can bring."
The HIDTA application has been in the works for a year, but was delayed by snarls of red tape in the complicated application process, Chinn said.
The HIDTA designation is structured so that each county has to request the designation individually.
"With where we sit in the Seventh, if we applied for it based upon just each county, we wouldn't qualify. So if we combine our resources, we more than qualify; however, you can't do that," Chinn said.
He said local agencies are working with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet to address that issue, and have received "an immense amount of help" from him and his staff.
Chinn said lawmen have also received strong support at the state level, from Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, who represents Montrose and other counties, and Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction.
Several peace officers and drug task force agents met with Bennet in August to discuss funding needs.
Bennet spokesman Michael Amadeo said on Thursday the senator left that meeting "highly motivated" to support local efforts to combat the drug trade.
"Clearly, there's a significant problem with drug cartels operating in rural Colorado," Amadeo said. "The cooperation (between agencies) has been outstanding. We're trying to do everything we can to encourage this and maximize the resources available to rural law enforcement officials."
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