Congressman Pat Harrigan Introduces Legislation to Target Cartels and Organized Crime Through COPS Grants

Contact: Lexi Kranich (814) 380-4408

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-10) introduced the COPS Anti-Organized Crime and Cartel Enforcement Act, legislation to expand the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program to explicitly support state, local, and tribal law enforcement efforts targeting organized crime, cartels, and transnational criminal organizations operating inside the United States.

"Drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations are operating on American soil with near impunity, and our local law enforcement agencies need the resources to fight back. This bill gives police departments access to federal COPS grant funding specifically to create specialized units that can take on organized crime, with the training, equipment, and personnel they need to dismantle these operations. We're talking about the same criminal organizations flooding our streets with fentanyl and fueling violence in our communities, and if we're serious about securing our communities, we need to give our police the tools to do it," said Congressman Harrigan.

The COPS Anti-Organized Crime and Cartel Enforcement Act authorizes COPS grant funds to be used for the creation of specialized anti-organized crime units within local law enforcement agencies. Eligible uses include hiring additional officers, training personnel in intelligence-gathering and counter-organized crime tactics, and acquiring necessary equipment such as investigative technology, protective gear, tactical vehicles, and approved unmanned aerial systems. The bill also prioritizes funding for jurisdictions facing high levels of cartel, gang, and transnational criminal activity and authorizes $50 million annually from fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to support these efforts nationwide.

Congressman Harrigan introduced the legislation as part of a broader effort to strengthen cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement and ensure police departments have the tools they need to dismantle criminal networks fueling violence, drug trafficking, and instability in American communities.