OHIO — The governor recently announced a $3 million grant to help fight illegal drugs in the streets.

This is a grant program that funds 38 local law enforcement agencies across the state, and it has been around since 2019.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Mike DeWine awarded $3 million of grant money to law enforcement to help the fight to keep illegal drugs off streets

  • Since 2019, he's given out more than $20 million, according to a press release

  • Fayette County Sheriff said it helps them indirectly, while it makes the Task Force in Ohio stronger

Sheriff Vernon Stanforth of Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said the battle of illegal drugs for law enforcement is ongoing. Several decades ago, a lot of drugs were coming to Ohio through major freeways, but he said back in the 90s, that changed.

“The bad guys realized we were targeting those major thoroughfares, so they started diverting their drug trafficking into the smaller highways, including Route 23 out of Kentucky into northern Ohio,” Stanforth said.

This is how Stanforth said the U.S. 23 Major Crimes Task Force got its name.

Ross County is the hub of the task force, and it received Gov. Mike DeWine’s funding meant for fighting illegal drugs.

Stanforth said this money makes a huge difference for law enforcement.

“They identified Ross County and the 23 pipeline, and Ross County as a conduit for this money, and I think they gave, according to what I’m seeing, about $91,000,” Stanforth said. “Frees [law enforcement] up to either pay personnel or to pay for drug operations…to allow the agents to buy undercover drug, make undercover drug buys, pays for their salary to function undercover, gives them the resources of whatever technology they may need.”

Since 2019, the governor has awarded more than $20 million to drug task forces across the state.

Andy Wilson is the director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, and he said the money benefits even areas without a drug task force.

“Governor DeWine has been dedicated really from his time as a prosecutor to his time as attorney general, now his time as governor to doing everything in his power to keep the people who live in our community safe and protected,” Wilson said. “Literally stopping a drug that could possibly kill my kid, from getting into my kid’s school, getting into a party that my kid may be at and every parent, every community member should be thankful that we have men and women who are willing to do this type of work and then again that we have a governor who’s willing to support that.”

Stanforth said it’s not only about the money. It’s about the cooperation that the money creates among their agencies.

He said agencies like his reap the benefits indirectly, but what matters is that they all operate like one team, like one force fight illegal drugs.  

“They will take over an investigation or they’ll initiate investigation,” Stanforth said. “Governor DeWine is a unique individual by anybody, by any stretch of imagination, but he’s one of the few governors in recent years that has a true understanding of local government."