Senator Shaheen and DEA break ground for new laboratory in Londonderry
LONDONDERRY, NH – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) held a groundbreaking ceremony in Londonderry at the site of their newest laboratory. The New England Lab will be the eighth regional DEA laboratory specializing in drug chemistry and latent fingerprint identification. Construction will begin soon and the lab is expected to open in April 2026.
Once built and operational the lab will have a staff of more than 50 and the DEA expects to process more than 5,000 drug exhibits a year. The lab will provide forensic analysis for drug investigations for the entire DEA New England Field Division covering New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and upstate New York. Regional laboratories process evidence for the DEA, FBI, ATF, DHS, and state and local agencies.
DEA Principal Deputy Administrator George Papadopoulos was the first to address the crowd of dozens of local, state, and federal law enforcement and government officials. Stressing the need for the new facility he said, “Modern forensic laboratories staffed by highly trained chemists help protect communities and are more important than ever as the country confronts the deadliest drug threat we have ever faced. The work that will be done in the state-of-the-art, future New Hampshire lab will save lives by turning information into evidence.”
The lab will also be able to identify and analyze new drug compounds. Synthetic drugs are rapidly evolving and are increasing in supply making the need for sophisticated chemical analysis more critical for law enforcement. The new lab is part of the DEA’s strategy to combat the synthetic drug threat by strategically locating the lab to speed up analysis and provide critical support for active investigations.
DEA Manchester has seized more than 100 pounds of the synthetic drug fentanyl year-to-date which equates to to nearly 4.7 million lethal doses of the drug taken off the street.
U.S. Senator Jean Shaheen (D-NH) was instrumental in securing the $50 million in funding for the project as vice chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee. The funding provisions she authored were part of the (FY) 2021 funding legislation.
Shaheen addressed the crowd, noting the multiple agencies involved, the complex planning, and the lengthy timeline to get to the start of construction. The impact of the fentanyl crisis and the resulting overdoses and deaths has been devastating for NH families This lab is part of the federal response to support the Granite State in this fight.
“Before the new temporary lab in the Manchester Field office and now this new facility evidence for federal drug cases in New Hampshire had to be sent to the New York Regional lab. This added time and logistical challenges in investigations. The new lab will speed up analysis and add efficiency to the process” said Senator Shaheen.
“This is an exciting project,” said Shaheen, “I think there are two really important aspects to it, One is the speed with which they will be able to identify substances. When we are dealing with new substances and new compounds they will be able to identify what that is and get the word out in ways that are important for safety including a healthcare response.
“The other part of it is they will be able to identify substances that are critical for prosecutions. We can’t prosecute somebody unless we have the substance identified. Also, the latent fingerprint analysis capability of the lab adds to the evidence.”
The origin of the precursor chemicals is also a concern of the Federal government. Last fall they were on the agenda between President Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping at their summit. Noting the diplomatic overture and the relevance of the new regional lab Senator Shahen commented, “I asked the DEA today if we are seeing a difference in how China is responding and they said some. It is a little early to know just how responsive they will be but we need to keep putting pressure on China. Most drugs come in through ports of entry. We need to have the technology to be used to identify drugs that are coming into the country.”
America and New Hampshire are facing a deadly drug crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), fatal drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. More than 70% of drug-related deaths involve fentanyl, while nearly 30% involve methamphetamine.
According to the NH Medical Examiner’s Office since 2015 the state has experienced an average of over 30 drug overdose deaths per year per 100,000 population.
