DEA asks watchdog to investigate claims that agents permitted fentanyl to hit the streets
Summary
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has asked the Justice Department’s internal watchdog to investigate claims that DEA agents allowed fentanyl pills to reach the streets in New Mexico. This follows reports that agents monitored but did not seize large shipments of fentanyl from 2023 to 2025 to build bigger criminal cases.Key Facts
- The DEA requested an investigation after a whistleblower claimed agents let fentanyl pills be distributed in New Mexico.
- Agents reportedly watched shipments of fentanyl but did not seize them, aiming for larger criminal cases.
- DEA administrator Terry Cole said the probe is needed due to public concern about the agency’s actions.
- The internal report highlighted a delivery of 74,000 fentanyl pills witnessed but not stopped by agents in Albuquerque.
- Whistleblower DEA agent David Howell raised concerns in 2023 about this strategy harming public safety.
- The DEA maintains that it did not knowingly allow fentanyl to reach communities.
- New Mexico’s governor asked the state attorney general to investigate whether DEA actions broke state laws.
- Fentanyl is a deadly synthetic opioid and considered a major public health threat and a “weapon of mass destruction” by the White House.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.