San Francisco Sun

San Francisco – On June 16, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi announced that the Department of Justice has approved an Operation Overdrive designation for San Francisco, which will soon unlock new federal resources to combat the City’s fentanyl trafficking epidemic.

The announcement comes in response to advocacy by Speaker Emerita Pelosi urging the Department of Justice to designate San Francisco for Operation Overdrive, culminating in her letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on April 27th.  Her request was supported by local and state authorities, including Mayor London Breed, members of the Board of Supervisors and Governor Newsom. 

“The designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco is welcome news and a strong step forward to combat fentanyl trafficking,” Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said.  “The immense human cost of overdose is heartbreaking: stealing lives, tearing families apart and shattering communities.  Powered by a data-driven approach, Operation Overdrive will help our City address this tragedy by targeting the criminals who are doing the most harm, removing deadly fentanyl from our streets and reducing related violence.  I am grateful to Attorney General Garland and the Justice Department for their swift consideration and approval of San Francisco for this life-saving initiative and look forward to its implementation.”

Operation Overdrive deploys federal law enforcement resources to help local and state authorities “identify and dismantle criminal drug networks operating in areas with the highest rates of violence and drug poisoning deaths.”  The initiative is expected to launch in San Francisco in the coming months.

“San Francisco’s fentanyl crisis needs attention—and now,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote in a letter in response to Speaker Emerita Pelosi.  “The Deputy Attorney General and the DEA Administrator are committed to including San Francisco in the upcoming phase of Operation Overdrive.” 

Read the full letter from Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte announcing the designation of San Francisco for Operation Overdrive below: 

* * *

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker Emerita
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Speaker Emerita Pelosi:

Thank you for your letter to the Attorney General, dated April 27, 2023, requesting a designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco. We appreciate your dedication to addressing fentanyl and related violence in and around San Francisco.

The Department of Justice (Department) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are focused on protecting American communities by targeting drug trafficking organizations and violent gangs located in the United States that are responsible for the greatest number of drug-related deaths and violence. DEA’s Operation Overdrive uses a data-driven, intelligence-led approach to identify and dismantle criminal drug networks operating in areas with the highest rates of violence and drug poisoning deaths across the country. This allows DEA to focus its resources in the areas where it can have the most impact. In each of the locations designated for Operation Overdrive, DEA works with local and state law enforcement officials to conduct threat assessments identifying the criminal networks and individuals that are causing the most harm.

The Deputy Attorney General and the DEA Administrator are committed to including San Francisco in the upcoming phase of Operation Overdrive. DEA is now assessing the results of their enforcement operations in 57 Operation Overdrive locations across the country, while also reviewing the most recent violent crime and drug poisoning data, to select the remaining Operation Overdrive locations. DEA expects to launch this next phase of Operation Overdrive in the coming months.

San Francisco’s fentanyl crisis needs attention—and now. We value your leadership in securing the support of the local authorities in San Francisco to partner with DEA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We also appreciate your focus on the pressing issue of criminal networks distributing fentanyl in certain neighborhoods. We welcome the opportunity to work together on these important issues.

We hope this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other matter.

Sincerely,
Carlos Felipe Uriarte
Assistant Attorney General 

Original source can be found here