New Mexico’s attorney general on Friday opened a criminal investigation to determine whether U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law by allowing hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach the streets of Albuquerque.
The extraordinary inquiry comes less than a week after that DEA agents repeatedly monitored 鈥� but did not seize 鈥� shipments of the synthetic opioid in a bid to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.
Current and former DEA agents, including whistleblower David Howell, told AP the strategy amounted to a gamble with public safety and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.
The fentanyl went unseized amid the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history and as the DEA led a public awareness campaign 鈥� 鈥淥ne Pill Can Kill” 鈥� emphasizing that even a few milligrams of the substance can be lethal.
The criminal investigation turns a debate over enforcement tactics into a question of whether federal agents crossed legal lines while pursuing larger trafficking organizations.
New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez, a Democrat, said federal agents 鈥渁re not above the law,鈥� but they enjoy substantial legal protections when carrying out official duties.
Still, Torrez said he would start 鈥渄emanding documents and information about the DEA’s conduct, in New Mexico and nationally, to determine whether what occurred here reflects a broader pattern of reckless or unlawful behavior.鈥�
鈥淚f those allegations are accurate, the consequences for New Mexicans were not abstract. They were fatal,鈥� Torrez wrote in a letter to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who earlier this week
鈥淣ew Mexico already ranks among the states hardest hit by fentanyl overdose deaths,” he added, “and the families who have lost children, siblings and parents to this crisis deserve a full accounting of what the federal government knew, what it did and what it failed to do.”
The DEA initially denied Howell’s allegations in a statement to AP. But the agency later called upon the Justice Department’s independent watchdog .
鈥淪hould that review identify areas of improvement, the DEA will of course implement changes to better their practices,鈥� the Justice Department said in a statement. 鈥淲e welcome a partnership with Governor Lujan Grisham, as well as New Mexico state and local leaders, to fight the scourge of fentanyl and keep her constituents safe.鈥�
A growing number of local and state leaders in New Mexico have expressed outrage in the wake of Howell’s allegations. But those sentiments are not widely held by family members of overdose victims, said Paul E. Martin, founder of United Against Fentanyl, a nonprofit organization fighting the epidemic that represents 5,000 family members of victims.
鈥淟aw enforcement makes mistakes,” Martin said. 鈥淏ut the DEA are the men and women putting their lives on the line. Their entire business is the removal of illegal and toxic drugs from our streets.鈥�
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