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AP investigation finds DEA allowed fentanyl shipments in New Mexico while pursuing larger criminal cases
Internal records and agent testimony say the DEA monitored shipments of up to 100,000 fentanyl pills to build larger federal cases.
- Between 2023 and 2025, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in New Mexico permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach the streets to build larger federal cases against traffickers.
- Historically, the DEA has allowed drugs to 'walk' to track supply chains, but the Justice Department updated its 'Fentanyl Protocols' in 2024 to grant agents discretion in balancing public safety against investigation benefits.
- Whistleblower DEA Special Agent David Howell reported agents observed but did not seize separate deliveries of 150,000 and 50,000 fentanyl pills, while agents also monitored a 74,000-pill transaction in Albuquerque.
- Howell told The Associated Press the tactic showed 'willful blindness' that 'got people killed,' prompting Empower Oversight to request the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate the agency's actions.
- The DEA maintains descriptions suggesting it knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities 'are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts,' though a 2024 internal Justice Department review found the agency's decisions were reasonable.
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DEA allowed large shipments of fentanyl to reach users
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach users in New Mexico between 2023 and 2025. The decision to monitor but not seize the shipments was part of a tactic to gather intelligence and build cases against major drug trafficking organizations, the Associated Press reported. David Howell, DEA special...
DEA let fentanyl pills reach New Mexico streets, whistleblower tells AP
An AP investigation found DEA agents let fentanyl consignments move through New Mexico during wider trafficking probes. The tactic has intensified scrutiny over whether bigger cases were built at the cost of public safety.
·India
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Total News Sources54
Leaning Left24Leaning Right11Center18Last UpdatedBias Distribution45% Left
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources lean Left
45% Left
L 45%
C 34%
R 21%
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