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DEA fentanyl controversy deepens with DOJ probe

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2026-08-17 17:24 UTC → 2026-08-17 17:24 UTC · added removed

New Mexico officials have intensified legal and political action after whistleblowers alleged that DEA agents allowed more than one million counterfeit fentanyl pills to circulate in the state between 2023 and 2025 while building larger cases. The claim, made by Special Agent David Howell and attorney Tristan Leavitt, echoes earlier accusations that the agency ignored the 2019 seizure mandate and monitored shipments instead. Overdose deaths rose 21% during that period, prompting Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to announce a bid for billions of dollars in civil damages and to demand full documentation of every declined seizure since Jan. 17. Attorney General Raúl Torrez opened a criminal investigation, seeking records, possible prosecutions and reforms. The Biden-era Justice Department revised its fentanyl-seizure guidelines in July 2026, granting agents discretion rather than a mandatory seizure requirement. State lawmakers have written to the DEA for explanations of the new guidance, community safeguards and any personnel reassignments. The federal Office of the Inspector General and the DOJ’s own OIG have launched parallel probes, including a 20-page complaint from a third unnamed DEA special agent describing multiple large fentanyl and methamphetamine deliveries that were tracked rather than seized. Recent developments show the DOJ’s Office of In August 2026, DOJ Inspector General is investigating Don Berthiaume announced a program allegedly overseen by former U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez, formal review of the tactic, which instructed some describe as allowing drugs to ‘walk.’ The investigation will examine whether agents monitored deliveries to track shipments moving from Arizona into New Mexico. avoid jeopardizing major prosecutions. A whistleblower complaint detailed at least five deliveries between November 2022 and June 2023 involving up to 100,000 fentanyl pills per shipment. The watchdog is also reviewing policies where agents may have allowed drugs to “walk” While former U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez defended the strategy as a means to protect larger investigations. gather intelligence, DEA Administrator Terry Cole has requested a narrower scope for the inquiry, noting inquiry focused on the probe should not reflect a lack handling of confidence in DEA personnel. Agent David Howell’s specific allegations that authorities ‘poisoned our community to make cases.’

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  1. 2026-08-17 17:24 UTC DEA fentanyl controversy deepens with DOJ probe
  2. 2026-08-17 17:24 UTC DEA fentanyl controversy deepens with DOJ probe
  3. 2026-08-05 00:18 UTC DEA fentanyl controversy deepens with DOJ probe

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