The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reportedly allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into New Mexico between 2023 and 2025 – under both the Biden and Trump administrations.

The Details: DEA agents permitted the drug shipments without intervention in favor of "bigger criminal cases" and traffickers, according to an Associated Press (Lean Left bias) report that cited "three current and former DEA agents and government records." The shipments reportedly remain unaccounted for, though the DEA refuted such allegations.

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Differing Perspectives: "We poisoned our community to make cases," said DEA Special Agent David Howell. "We get to say, 'We don't really know what happened to the drugs.' But we 100% got people killed." The DEA reportedly demoted Howell to desk duty after he blew the whistle on its tactics. Associated Press said that multiple officials suggested the tactics violated the Justice Department's (DOJ) public safeguards.

Former New Mexico US Attorney Alex Uballez conversely said, "The bigger fish are worth catching, and that will save more lives." DEA spokesperson Amanda Wozniak agreed and said the agency "conducted real-time surveillance, intelligence gathering, and operational analysis targeting larger drug trafficking organizations." She asserted, "Public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts."

For Context: DOJ guidelines direct law enforcement to seize fentanyl whenever "practicable." However, the department updated its protocols in 2024 to allow "discretion in determining whether to take action to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl" to pursue larger cases. The DEA accomplished its largest ever fentanyl seizure in 2025 in New Mexico, and nationwide overdose deaths decreased 14% in 2025, but they increased 21% in the state. The DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility said in 2024 that the DEA's inaction posed no "specific danger to public health."

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