DEA let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills reach New Mexico

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to three current and former DEA agents and internal government records reviewed by the Associated Press.

DEA agents repeatedly monitored shipments of fentanyl pills — but did not seize them — as federal prosecutors sought to bring larger criminal cases against traffickers of the synthetic opioid that the White House last year designated a “weapon of mass destruction,” according to the investigation published Monday by the AP.

Agents and experts told the AP the tactic amounted to a gamble with public safety that potentially imperiled communities in and around Albuquerque and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.

The reporting, led by AP investigative reporter Jim Mustian and co-written with Joshua Goodman, drew on hundreds of internal DEA records and interviews with a whistleblower who claimed his agency gambled with public safety and violated DOJ rules about seizing the dangerous synthetic opioid.

The disclosures come amid a broader ongoing crisis involving the drug. As MSI previously reported, carfentanil — an opioid 100 times more potent than fentanyl — has surged across the U.S., adding a new layer of danger to an already devastating epidemic.

The White House designated fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” last year, reflecting the drug’s role in driving overdose deaths across the country even as overall U.S. overdose deaths declined in 2025, according to CDC data.

Federal prosecutors in New Mexico, including U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Alexander Uballez, have pursued major cases against traffickers in the state, which has been a focal point for fentanyl smuggling due to its border with Mexico. Attorney General Pam Bondi and DEA leadership in Washington have also been involved in shaping enforcement strategy.

The whistleblower and other agents said the decision to allow fentanyl to reach the streets in order to build bigger cases is a practice the Justice Department has long warned against. The department’s own rules require agents to seize controlled substances to protect the public, but agents said those rules were set aside in favor of a long-game prosecutorial strategy.

The AP report did not identify the whistleblower by name, citing their fear of retaliation.