Overview
- An Associated Press investigation published June 22 reviewed internal DEA records and agent interviews that say federal investigators in New Mexico monitored but sometimes did not seize large fentanyl deliveries between 2023 and 2025 to build bigger trafficking cases.
- Whistleblower Special Agent David Howell told investigators the practice “poisoned our community” and said agents watched specific shipments, including a June 2023 delivery later recorded as 74,000 pills, that were not immediately seized.
- Howell filed a 2023 complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which found a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing, while the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility later concluded in 2024 that the DEA and U.S. attorney’s office made reasonable decisions.
- Officials including the DEA and then-U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez defended the tactic as lawful investigative work aimed at dismantling larger networks and pointed to court-authorized wiretaps, surveillance and a May 2025 seizure of more than 3 million pills tied to related probes.
- The reports revive public-health concerns in a state where overdoses rose sharply, note that DOJ guidance was rewritten in 2024 to give investigators more discretion, and say oversight reviews and potential congressional inquiries will be key to resolving whether the tactic endangered communities.