Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday accused the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of allowing massive amounts of fentanyl to flood New Mexico communities in pursuit of bigger drug trafficking cases. She called the alleged tactic a “stunning failure” that cost lives and demanded criminal investigations, civil damages, and accountability from the federal government.
Standing inside the state Office of the Medical Investigator alongside law enforcement officials, health leaders, and local elected officials, the Democratic governor said New Mexico had become collateral to the federal strategy that prioritized dismantling drug cartels over protecting communities. “The DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway,” Lujan Grisham said in the press conference. “New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.”
Her remarks came after an Associated Press investigation, supported by a whistleblower complaint, alleged that DEA agents monitored—but did not immediately seize—a staggering number of fentanyl shipments moving through New Mexico between 2023 and 2025 in an attempt to identify higher-ranking members of drug trafficking organizations.
Allegations of ‘letting drugs walk’
The controversy centers on an investigative technique known as a controlled delivery, in which law enforcement allows illegal drugs to continue moving under surveillance to identify larger criminal networks.
According to the AP investigation, current and former DEA agents said officers monitored multiple fentanyl shipments instead of intercepting them immediately. One documented operation allegedly allowed 74,000 fentanyl pills to reach a mobile home park in Albuquerque while agents tracked the delivery.
“And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets,” Lujan Grisham, in a statement, said.
DEA Special Agent David Howell, who filed a whistleblower complaint, claimed he objected to the strategy as early as 2023, contending that agents were “poisoning our community to make cases.”
Government records reviewed by the AP allegedly showed agents documenting exact pill counts while shipments continued to flow into New Mexico.
A state at the center of the fentanyl crisis
Major trafficking routes connecting Mexico to the rest of the United States have hit New Mexico hard, driving one of the nation’s worst fentanyl epidemics. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid often pressed into counterfeit prescription pills, is more potent than heroin or morphine. Even a small amount can be deadly.
State officials said opioid-related illnesses and overdose deaths have created enormous strain on healthcare systems, law enforcement agencies, behavioral health programs, and emergency responders. The governor’s office estimates the state has spent more than $1.5 billion addressing the opioid crisis through public safety, treatment, and recovery programs.
Lujan Grisham said New Mexico will seek federal reparations for behavioral health funding. She is also exploring broader civil claims that could reach billions of dollars.
State officials seek criminal and civil accountability
The governor has asked New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether federal agents had violated state law during the operations. Torrez’s office has opened a formal probe and requested documents from the DEA.
Lujan Grisham also wants Congress and the White House to support legislation that would prohibit similar operations in New Mexico without state notification. She demanded that the federal government compensate states for the costs of responding to drug trafficking operations.
She said DEA never informed local governments—including Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque—that large fentanyl shipments were allegedly being allowed to continue through their communities.
The governor described the alleged conduct as “the most derelict, despicable act” she witnessed during her time in public office.
DEA rejects allegations
The DEA has denied the allegations. A spokesperson previously told the AP that allegations the agency had allowed fentanyl to reach communities are “false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts.”
DEA Administrator Terrance Cole has asked for an independent review by the US Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General while expressing confidence in the agency’s personnel.
The review will examine the operations and determine whether investigative policies were followed.
A debate over law enforcement tactics
Controlled deliveries have been traditionally used in complex narcotics investigations because they can help authorities identify cartel leaders rather than arresting only the couriers.
Authorities argue that dismantling entire trafficking organizations can ultimately save more lives by disrupting drug supply chains. Critics, however, believe otherwise, arguing that fentanyl’s extraordinary potency fundamentally changes the risk calculation.
Unlike other illegal drugs, a single counterfeit pill containing fentanyl can cause a fatal overdose, deciding to allow shipments to proceed especially controversial.
Although the DEA announced several record fentanyl seizures in New Mexico during 2025, state officials argue those successes cannot justify allowing other shipments to reach communities.
Political pressure grows
The dispute is another flashpoint in longstanding tensions between New Mexico and federal authorities over border security and drug trafficking. Lujan Grisham has repeatedly criticized Washington’s handling of cartel activity. The Trump administration had previously deployed National Guard troops to assist with public safety efforts along the state’s border region.
Now, the governor says she plans to press the issue with both Congress and the White House. Lujan Grisham argued that federal agencies must be held accountable if investigations confirm the allegations.
It remains uncertain if New Mexico can finally recover billions of dollars from the federal government. Legal experts note that sovereign immunity protections and the difficulty of linking specific overdose deaths to individual law enforcement operations could complicate any lawsuit.
Still, the allegations have increased public scrutiny of federal drug enforcement strategies.
Lujan Grisham said, the distinction between building a criminal case and preventing an overdose is difficult to accept for families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl. “The federal government must answer,” she said, “for the pills that reached New Mexico streets—and for the consequences that followed.”