Franklin, Jefferson, Cole and Boone counties in Missouri have been added to the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), allowing them to tap into $500,000 in federal anti-drug funding.

The addition of the counties, announced by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), comes largely as the result of local methamphetamine production and trafficking. The HIDTA funding will be used to interdict meth shipments on local highways such as I-70, I-55, and I-44.

"Methamphetamine is the worst drug I've encountered in my nearly 20 years in public life and it's destroying lives all over states like Missouri," said U.S. Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.). "We can do something about it by assisting local law enforcement and the efforts they tell us will work. This new designation will make resources available to our sheriffs and local law enforcement working to combat meth trafficking and distribution in their communities. We need to get ahead of the meth problem, which is why this funding is so important."

HIDTAs are regions that have serious drug trafficking problems that impact other areas of the country. The Midwest HIDTA is one of 28 across the U.S.