Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

The head of the Metro Drug Unit has been named the top drug task force commander in the country.

Charleston Police Lt. Chad Napier received the 2012 National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Award during a ceremony Thursday in Washington, D.C., according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Napier is West Virginia’s first law enforcement officer to receive the honor, given annually by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The HIDTA program was created in 1988 to reduce illegal drug trafficking and production across the country. The Metro Drug Unit is a HIDTA drug task force that primarily covers Kanawha and Putnam counties in West Virginia.

“This national award confirms something those of us in West Virginia have known for a long time: Chad Napier is a world-class police officer and leader,” Goodwin said. “He combines extraordinary talent with an exceptional passion for fighting crime. We’re fortunate to have him, and this award is well-deserved recognition for the invaluable work he’s done.”

Napier, a 17-year veteran of the Charleston Police Department, was appointed commander of the Metro Drug Unit in March 2009. In his first year in that position, the drug unit’s seizures of illegal drugs and cash rose 400 percent. A year later, the Metro Drug Unit was voted the No. 1 task force in the Appalachian regional HIDTA.

Last year, the Metro Drug Unit, along with the Charleston Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA Group, received the National HIDTA Award for Outstanding Task Force Marijuana Investigation. That award recognized an investigation, led by Napier, that seized about 2,500 pounds of marijuana, 8 kilograms of powder cocaine, about $750,000 in cash and a 1979 Cessna plane.

Also in 2011, U.S. Attorney Goodwin named MDENT the top drug task force in southern West Virginia. Individually, Napier received the 2011 Appalachia HIDTA Director’s Award.

Napier is also credited with creating a full-time drug interdiction team within the Metro Drug Unit. Interdiction operations by Napier’s task force seized more than $400,000 in cash and $500,000 in illegal drugs in 2011.

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