A former DEA agent has accused the agency of deliberately permitting hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to flood into Albuquerque, gambling with public safety in pursuit of larger drug-trafficking cases. The allegation, detailed in recent reporting, has triggered state investigations and sharp criticism from New Mexico's top officials.
David Howell, a DEA special agent who turned whistleblower, filed a complaint in 2023 alleging that agents had detailed intelligence about specific drug deliveries to the city but chose not to intercept them. In one documented instance, DEA personnel deciphered coded cellphone communications and closely monitored a transaction involving 74,000 fentanyl pills at a mobile home park in Albuquerque in June 2023, yet took no action. Days before, another shipment had similarly been allowed to proceed without seizure.
"We poisoned our community to make cases," Howell told the Associated Press. "We did nothing but sit back and watch."
According to DEA data, one kilogram of fentanyl, which equates to thousands of pills, contains enough to kill 500,000 people. The implications are stark for a city already reeling from the opioid crisis.
The DEA has disputed the characterization, stating in a statement that claims it "knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false." The agency said the operations in question involved court-authorized investigations targeting larger trafficking organizations and that all decisions were made lawfully and in coordination with federal prosecutors.
Nevertheless, the DEA has asked the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate Howell's complaint. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez announced a formal state investigation, writing that if the allegations are accurate, "the consequences for New Mexicans were not abstract. They were fatal."
New Mexico has been among the hardest-hit states in the fentanyl crisis. Overdose deaths increased 23 percent over the past year, marking the second consecutive year the state led the nation in overdose mortality. During the first half of 2025, three northeastern counties saw drug-related emergency room visits surge by as much as 204 percent.
The state's history as a transhipment route for drugs compounds the problem. Decades ago, the dormitory town of Espanola, 80 miles north of Albuquerque, earned notoriety as the heroin-addiction capital of America. When prescription opioid availability tightened in the early 2010s, Mexican cartels shifted to cheaper, more deadly fentanyl production.
Howell's identity as the complaint's author was disclosed after news organizations discovered that document redactions had missed the final letter of his name. He reportedly faced retaliation, including reassignment to desk duty and diminished performance evaluations. Internal records show federal prosecutors barred him from testifying in court, citing his "pattern of refusing to heed" orders to allow drugs to move through investigations without seizure.
Alex Uballez, who served as US attorney in New Mexico from 2022 through 2025, defended the strategy, telling the AP that allowing shipments to proceed was part of a broader effort to gather intelligence and dismantle major trafficking organizations. "The bigger fish are worth catching," he said, "and that will save more lives."
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat facing re-election, called the DEA's actions "reckless and dangerous." She told the Albuquerque Journal that the result was "hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids" and urged federal accountability. Grisham said she had repeatedly petitioned the Biden administration for help with fentanyl but that "the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in."
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said the decision was "a huge slap in the face to all of us as New Mexicans," while Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen objected to letting "poison" flow through the community for investigative gain.
The controversy reflects a shift in federal policy. In 2017, the Justice Department issued guidance directing agents to "seize or otherwise prevent the distribution" of fentanyl "as soon as practicable," prioritizing public safety. But two years ago, the department revised the guidance to allow agents more discretion, permitting them to weigh public safety risks against "the benefits to be achieved through preserving the investigation."
Empower Oversight, a whistleblower advocacy organization now representing Howell, says the DEA had "walked" fentanyl shipments from at least 2023 through March 2025. The group called for investigations from the inspector general and congressional oversight committees, stating that "the same agency that warns the public, 'one pill can kill,' should not intentionally allow hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets."
Author James Rodriguez: "If federal agents knew exactly where lethal drugs were headed and watched them arrive anyway, that crosses a line no investigation justifies, no matter how big the eventual case."
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