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DEA agents allegedly allowed fentanyl into New Mexico, internal probe launched
🇲🇽 Mexico /Crime & Justice

DEA agents allegedly allowed fentanyl into New Mexico, internal probe launched

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • DEA agents allegedly allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to internal reports and agent testimonies.
  • Agents reportedly monitored drug shipments but did not seize them, a tactic described as "deliberate blindness" that may have violated Justice Department guidelines.
  • The strategy, intended to build larger cases against traffickers, is criticized for potentially endangering communities, especially as overdose deaths in New Mexico increased by 21% last year while national rates fell.

An internal investigation has been launched following allegations that Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents permitted large quantities of fentanyl pills to flood into New Mexico between 2023 and 2025. According to three DEA agents and former agents, as well as government records reviewed by The Associated Press, the agency monitored numerous fentanyl pill shipments without seizing them.

This tactic, described by DEA Special Agent David Howell as "deliberate blindness," allowed drugs to reach the streets while federal prosecutors pursued larger cases against opioid traffickers. Howell stated, "We poisoned our community to build cases." He expressed certainty that this approach led to deaths, despite the difficulty in tracing the exact fate of the drugs. The strategy has drawn criticism for potentially violating Justice Department norms aimed at public safety.

We poisoned our community to build cases.

— David HowellA DEA agent describing the agency's strategy of allowing fentanyl pills onto the streets.

The DEA has long maintained that seizing every drug shipment is impossible. However, the decision to allow vast amounts of counterfeit painkillers onto the streets has reportedly stunned veteran agents. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid significantly more potent than heroin or cocaine, has become the DEA's top priority due to soaring overdose deaths. Its extreme lethality, with just milligrams being fatal to the average adult, has complicated traditional drug enforcement tactics, which often involve allowing transactions to proceed to track the supply chain.

While national overdose deaths decreased by 14% last year, New Mexico recorded a concerning 21% increase. The state, particularly areas like Albuquerque known as the "War Zone" due to drug-related issues, remains at the epicenter of the fentanyl epidemic. The Justice Department had previously issued guidelines encouraging agents to seize the opioid whenever "practicable," a directive that appears to have been circumvented in these alleged instances.

By our own deliberate blindness, we can say: 'We don't really know what happened to the drugs.' But 100% we made people die.

— David HowellExplaining the consequences of the DEA's alleged inaction on fentanyl shipments.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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