ST. LOUIS — A new initiative recently launched in the St. Louis area to help combat drug trafficking and violent crimes.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea announced that the DEA will direct resources to help reduce violent crime in communities throughout the country, including St. Louis.
The initiative called "Project Safeguard" will allow the DEA to identify and prioritize ongoing drug trafficking investigations with a nexus to violent crime, according to a press release.
“Drug trafficking and violent crime are inextricably linked,” said Shea. “From the extreme levels of violence in Mexican cartels, to the open air drug markets in American cities, drug traffickers employ violence, fear, and intimidation to ply their trade. Neighborhoods across our country are terrorized by violent drug trafficking organizations that have little regard for human life, and profit from the pain and suffering of our people. Along with our law enforcement partners, DEA is committed to safeguarding the health and safety of our communities.”
“The Midwest is unfortunately too familiar with violent criminals,” said Special Agent in Charge William J. Callahan, III, chief of the DEA St. Louis Division, which includes Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois. “This operation will help focus resources to continue our efforts to combat drug traffickers who use violent means to conduct their illegal business operations.”
DEA’s Project Safeguard will comprise three focus areas to address the growing violent crime threat in cities across the United States:
- Disrupting, dismantling, and destroying the most significant violent drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States;
- Increasing collaboration with ATF to ensure effective federal prosecution of firearms traffickers associated with drug trafficking organizations; and
- Prioritizing the capture of DEA fugitives who employ violence as part of drug trafficking.
The DEA said since Project Safeguard began in August 2020 in the St. Louis area, it has resulted in 39 cases, 54 arrests, including two DEA fugitives, 197 seized firearms, nearly $160,000 in seized assets, and 196 kilograms of seized controlled substances.
