{"id":16906,"date":"2026-06-22T14:31:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16906"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:31:55","slug":"staggering-amounts-of-fentanyl-hit-streets-as-the-dea-watched-and-took-no-action-records-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16906","title":{"rendered":"Staggering amounts of fentanyl hit streets as the DEA watched and took no action, records show"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JIM MUSTIAN and JOSHUA GOODMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Even as it battled the deadliest drug epidemic in American history, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to three current and former DEA agents and government records reviewed by The Associated Press.<\/p>

Read more FACT FOCUS: Netanyahu\u2019s claims about Iran\u2019s nuclear program run counter to public evidence<\/a><\/p>\n

DEA agents repeatedly monitored shipments of fentanyl pills \u2014 but did not seize them \u2014 as federal prosecutors sought to bring bigger criminal cases against traffickers of a synthetic opioid that the White House last year designated a \u201cweapon of mass destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agents and experts, however, said 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe poisoned our community to make cases,\u201d DEA Special Agent David Howell told AP in a series of interviews in New Mexico. \u201cThrough our own willful blindness, we get to say, \u2018We don\u2019t really know what happened to the drugs.\u2019 But we 100% got people killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DEA has long contended it would not be plausible to seize every shipment of every drug. But the strategy of allowing staggering amounts of counterfeit painkillers to hit the streets shocked several veteran agents who spoke with AP.<\/p>\n

Ridding the streets of illicit fentanyl, manufactured mostly in Mexican labs, became DEA\u2019s top priority over the past decade as overdose deaths surged. At the same time, its lethality \u2014 a few milligrams can kill the average adult \u2014 upended time-tested tactics that had been used to combat drugs like cocaine and heroin. Those methods have included allowing drug transactions to be completed so agents might follow the narcotics through the supply chain. Fentanyl, however, is so dangerous that the U.S. Justice Department developed guidelines for agents in such circumstances, encouraging them to seize the opioid whenever \u201cpracticable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albuquerque, which has a neighborhood so besieged by drugs it\u2019s known as \u201cWar Zone,\u201d and other regions in New Mexico remain at the epicenter of the fentanyl epidemic. While overdose deaths nationwide fell 14% last year, government data show New Mexico tallied a 21% spike.<\/p>

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Alex Uballez, who served as U.S. attorney in New Mexico from 2022 through last year, said authorities at times allowed drug shipments to go unseized as part of a broader effort to gather intelligence and build cases against major drug traffickers. He said the approach reflected his office\u2019s limited resources and his belief that prosecuting larger organizations can have a bigger impact than interdicting every suspected drug transaction.<\/p>\n

Last year, DEA recorded the largest fentanyl bust in its history in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger fish are worth catching,\u201d Uballez said, \u201cand that will save more lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DEA said in a statement that \u201cthe investigative decisions at issue were lawful, reasonable under the circumstances and consistent with Department guidance.\u201d<\/p>

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\u201cPublic descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts,\u201d DEA spokesperson Amanda Wozniak wrote in an email. She said the investigations involved court-authorized wiretaps \u201cin which agents and prosecutors conducted real-time surveillance, intelligence gathering, and operational analysis targeting larger drug trafficking organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n