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High Intensity Drug Trafficking Initiative
In 1988, the acronym HIDTA was coined and became a funding mechanism for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in various parts of the United States which qualified as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. Under the auspices of the HIDTA, two separate units have been formed which fall within the Detective Bureau:
- HIDTA Major Drug Squads
HIDTA is a group of seven (7) individual squads made up of officers/agents from a multitude of various federal, state and local agencies. Each squad is supervised by a supervisor from one of the various participating agencies. The primary focus of the HIDTA Major Drug Squads is to disrupt, through investigation and enforcement, major drug trafficking rings operating through Houston at an international level.
- Narcotics Intelligence/Gang Violence Tracking Unit
The Narcotics Intelligence/Gang Violence Tracking Unit (NI/GVTU) is a grant funded by the Federal Government through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Unit’s purpose is to develop information on narcotics trafficking, as well as intelligence on violent gangs, that may or may not be involved with narcotics. The Unit is presently closely associated with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. A computer database is maintained which contains all the intelligence gathered by the unit and networks with other agencies intelligence databases in the area.
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