DEA asks watchdog to investigate claims that agents permitted fentanyl
to hit the streets
[June 26, 2026]
By JIM MUSTIAN
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday asked the U.S.
Justice Department’s 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 Associated Press investigation found
agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — major shipments of the
synthetic opioid in a bid to build bigger criminal cases between 2023
and 2025.
In a letter sent Thursday to the U.S. Justice Department's Inspector
General, DEA administrator Terry Cole wrote that an internal probe was
necessary because “the allegations have generated significant public
attention and have raised questions regarding DEA’s operational
decisions, supervisory oversight, and response to concerns.”
Cole wrote in a public statement that his request “should 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.”
“If improvements are identified, DEA will implement them,” he added.
“Strong institutions are sustained — not diminished — by objective
oversight and a willingness to continuously assess and improve.”
Current and former DEA agents told the AP the investigative strategy —
known as letting the counterfeit painkillers “walk” — 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 “
weapon of mass destruction.”
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 “poisoned 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."
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This photo provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
shows pills containing fentanyl which were seized by the DEA in New
Mexico, on April 28, 2025. (DEA via AP)
The DEA's request for the watchdog investigation came just a day
after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the state’s
attorney general to examine whether the agency’s actions violated
New Mexico law, an extraordinary challenge to a federal law
enforcement agency at a time when fentanyl remains one of the
country’s deadliest public health threats.
“There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these
decisions were,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Make no
mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into
New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway.”
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. “It requires
identifying the sources of supply, the individuals directing
criminal activity and the organizations responsible for moving
dangerous drugs into our communities.”
Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico, meanwhile, sent Cole a letter
asking for a briefing on the DEA's tactics in the state.
“New 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. “At 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 —
period.”
___
Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington
contributed to this report.
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