AP investigation says DEA let tracked fentanyl shipments reach the streets

A new Associated Press investigation has raised serious questions about a Drug Enforcement Administration tactic that allowed tracked fentanyl shipments to continue moving through New Mexico.

The report says agents observed, but did not seize, major deliveries of fentanyl pills during investigations between 2023 and 2025. David Howell, a veteran DEA agent who turned whistleblower, told federal investigators that agents had watched separate shipments of 150,000 and 50,000 pills without intervening.

The agency and federal prosecutors defended the decisions as part of broader efforts to dismantle high-level trafficking networks. Critics argue the approach placed public safety at unacceptable risk, given fentanyl's extreme lethality and the scale of the US overdose crisis.

Competing official findings

Howell took his allegations to the US Office of Special Counsel, which initially found a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing and asked the Justice Department to investigate. The department's Office of Professional Responsibility later concluded that the DEA and the US attorney's office had made reasonable decisions and that the inaction posed no specific public health danger.

The differing conclusions underline how contested these judgments can be once the details are examined after the fact.

A stark trade-off

The report points to the difficult balance between building larger criminal cases and preventing immediate harm. In fentanyl cases that trade-off is especially acute, because even small amounts can be deadly.

The findings are likely to fuel further scrutiny of federal drug enforcement, particularly in communities where overdose deaths remain high and trust in law enforcement is already strained.