The federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday asked the U.S. Justice Department鈥檚 internal watchdog to investigate a whistleblower’s claims that DEA agents permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico.
The request came days after an found agents repeatedly monitored 鈥� but did not seize 鈥� major shipments of the synthetic opioid in a bid to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.
In to the U.S. Justice Department’s Inspector General, DEA administrator Terry Cole wrote that an internal probe was necessary because 鈥渢he allegations have generated significant public attention and have raised questions regarding DEA鈥檚 operational decisions, supervisory oversight, and response to concerns.鈥�
Cole wrote in a public statement that his request 鈥渟hould not be interpreted as reflecting any lack of confidence in the professionalism or integrity of DEA personnel or in the investigative decisions made during this matter.鈥�
鈥淚f improvements are identified, DEA will implement them,鈥� he added. 鈥淪trong institutions are sustained 鈥� not diminished 鈥� by objective oversight and a willingness to continuously assess and improve.鈥�
Current and former DEA agents told the AP the investigative strategy 鈥� known as letting the counterfeit painkillers 鈥渨alk鈥� 鈥� amounted to a gamble with public safety in a state ravaged by the fentanyl epidemic and may have violated Justice Department rules intended to safeguard communities from a drug the White House last year designated as a 鈥� .鈥�
The AP investigation cited three current and former agents and government records, including an internal report of a 2023 delivery of 74,000 pills the DEA watched happen at a mobile home park in Albuquerque. One of those agents, David Howell, first raised serious concerns about this strategy in a 2023 whistleblower complaint. He continued to raise his objections internally and spoke at length with the AP about what he described as a strategy that 鈥減oisoned our community to make cases.”
In an earlier statement to AP, a DEA spokesperson said “public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts.”
The DEA’s request for the watchdog investigation came just a day after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to examine whether the agency鈥檚 actions violated New Mexico law, an extraordinary challenge to a federal law enforcement agency at a time when fentanyl remains one of the country鈥檚 deadliest public health threats.
鈥淭here are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were,鈥� Lujan Grisham said in a statement. 鈥淢ake no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway.鈥�
The Justice Department said in a statement that it welcomes a partnership with New Mexico leaders to keep the state safe.
“Protecting the public requires more than addressing individual transactions as they occur,” the statement said. 鈥淚t requires identifying the sources of supply, the individuals directing criminal activity and the organizations responsible for moving dangerous drugs into our communities.鈥�
Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico, meanwhile, sent Cole a letter asking for a briefing on the DEA’s tactics in the state.
鈥淣ew Mexicans are paying the price for a fentanyl epidemic that is tearing families apart and deserve answers,” U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said in a statement. 鈥淎t a time when overdose deaths continue to devastate our state and communities, the DEA should be focused on stopping these drugs before they reach our streets 鈥� period.鈥�
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Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
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