HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - State police are receiving a $1.5 million federal grant to expand efforts to address heroin and opioid abuse in Connecticut.

Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Friday that police plan to use the Department of Justice grant money to help focus on interrupting the transportation and sale of opiates in the state by dismantling drug trafficking organizations.

The funds will be spent on enhancing the current Statewide Narcotics Task Force and strengthening partnerships between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Grant money will also be used by the state's judicial branch and prosecutors to find alternatives to incarceration for those people who need substance abuse treatment interventions.

The competitive grant was awarded through the department's 2016 Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Heroin Task Force Program.