TAMPA, Fla. — The Drug Enforcement Agency in the Tampa District Office launched a new program called "DEA 360" on Friday that takes a comprehensive approach at tackling the opioid crisis.
- DEA 360 aims to "go after the bad guys and educate the good guys"
- Will first be rolled out in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties
- Previous stories about the opioid crisis
- More Hillsborough County headlines
"The DEA 360 attacks the drug epidemic from all sides," said Mike Furgason, DEA Tampa Special Agent. "We go after the bad guys and we educate the good guys."
The strategy is a three-pronged approach that includes law enforcement, clinical and community support. Furgason said they want to empower community leaders, faith based organizations and the medical community.
"We're working with the medical community to raise awareness and cost consequences associated with heroin and prescription opioid abuse," he said. "We're sending DEA agents out to schools, boys and girls clubs, churches, businesses. We're hitting social media."
Law enforcement leaders from across the Bay Area showed up at the Julian B. Lane Park River Center in Tampa to show their support for DEA 360. Florida Attorney General Ashely Moody travelled from Tallahassee to attend the event and said she's proud the DEA recognizes they can't arrest their way out of this crisis.
"I commend DEA for DEA 360, because they acknowledge that in addition to our law enforcement efforts, we must reach out," she said. "Make sure that our partners in the addiction communities are there to provide services as needed."
Last week, Gov. Ron Desantis appointed Moody to lead a statewide task force to combat the opioid epidemic. The U.S. Attorney for Florida's Middle District Office, Maria Chapa-Lopez, said she has designated an opioid coordinator to prioritize and prosecute opioid cases.
"In the partnership with the DEA," she said. "My office's law enforcement coordination team works to identify communities hardest hit by the opioid crisis."
Jackie Siegel lost her 18-year-old daughter, Victoria, to an opioid overdose in 2015. Siegel was featured in a documentary called "The Queen of Versailes" and turned her daughter's diary into an anti-drug book.
"This book is now number one on Amazon in the drug and recovery section, and our mission is to help people," she said. "To educate them about things that we wished we would have known. This happened, our daughter died and did drugs right under our noses."
Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said the opioid epidemic is a healthcare crisis and believes addicts need help not handcuffs.
"DEA 360 is their starting point for this community to go forward attacking this problem," he said. "We know we need to do a better job and we will do a better job. Our children's lives depends on it."
According to the Hillsborough Medical Examiner, three people died from an opioid overdose in 2013. Last year, that number skyrocketed to 153.
"Ingesting fentanyl is like playing Russian roulette with a loaded weapon and a bullet in every chamber," said Furgason. "We're going after doctors, pharmacists that profit from pain pills getting into the wrong hands."
DEA 360 will first be rolled out in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties.