Page 13 - February 2017

HIDTA Honors Detective Lieutenant Quin

Detective Lieutenant Thomas Quin was named Outstanding Task Force Commander at the National High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Awards ceremony, held February 9, 2017 in Washington, D.C. While several awards
were presented to organizations across the country for drug interdiction and intervention, Detective Lieutenant Quin
received the sole recognition for top task force commander in the nation.

Additionally, the New England HIDTA
was named the Outstanding HIDTA
of the Year. HIDTAs are partnerships
between various levels of law
enforcement to combat narcotics
trafficking.

“Choosing the teams and
individuals to be recognized
tonight was a challenge,” said
Michael K. Gottlieb, director of
the National HIDTA Program. “The
men and women singled out for
recognition are outstanding and
their accomplishments genuinely
noteworthy.”

A veteran Massachusetts State Police
investigator, Detective Lieutenant
Quin formed the State Police
Transportation Drug Unit (TDU) in Detective Lieutenant Quin and his wife stand with MSP Colonel Richard McKeon,
2013, with the goal to aggressively Lieutenant Colonel Dermot Quinn, and Major Francis Leahy at the award ceremony.
interdict bulk shipments of heroin
and other narcotics being transported into New England. The TDU achieved considerable success, making several large
seizures and dismantling drug trafficking organizations based in Lawrence and other Massachusetts communities.

In 2015, Detective Lieutenant Quin successfully petitioned for his unit to become a HIDTA Task Force, and the
team was expanded to include federal and local law enforcement agents. Since becoming a HIDTA Task Force, the
Transportation Drug Unit has disrupted numerous trafficking organizations, seized drugs with a street value of more
than $16.4 million, and seized currency and other assets worth $1.7 million.

In earning the Outstanding HIDTA of the Year award, the New England HIDTA disrupted or dismantled 170 drug
trafficking organizations and 19 money laundering organizations in 2015. In addition to that impressive record of
interdiction, the New England HIDTA also provided analytical support to nearly 400 cases and provided drug resistance
training to more than 3,400 students.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides
assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical
drug-trafficking regions of the United States. The grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control
Policy.

The Massachusetts State Police congratulate Detective Lieutenant Quin and the New England HIDTA. We are honored
to count Detective Lieutenant Quin as a member of the French and Electric Blue, and are proud to be a participating
member in the New England HIDTA.

F r en c h·a n d·E le c t r ic·B l ue·F e b r u a r y·2017·p a g e·13