House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer is investigating allegations that the Biden administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly allowed large quantities of fentanyl to reach New Mexico communities as agents pursued larger trafficking cases.
In a Monday letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Kentucky Republican accused the former administration of relaxing policies against fentanyl trafficking that allegedly “disallowed interdictions by law enforcement and permitted deadly street drugs to flow into U.S. communities.”
The request refers to an enforcement strategy where federal agents deliberately monitored but did not seize shipments of illegal fentanyl.
In some investigations, federal prosecutors and DEA agents tracked large fentanyl shipments rather than immediately seizing the drugs, allowing transactions to proceed as they gathered intelligence and built cases against higher-level traffickers.
This tactic gained intense public attention following a June Associated Press investigation exposing a whistleblower complaint against the DEA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Whistleblower and DEA Special Agent David Howell alleged that the practice violated a 2019 Justice Department protocol directing agents, when they had probable cause to believe fentanyl was being distributed or stored for distribution, to seek a search warrant as soon as practicable and seize or otherwise prevent its distribution.
The DEA has defended the investigations as lawful and consistent with department guidance, saying agents used court-authorized wiretaps and real-time surveillance to target larger trafficking organizations.
New Mexico’s fentanyl poisoning deaths rose nearly 21% during the period, while deaths nationwide fell 14%, according to AP’s analysis.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department Thursday to obtain federal records regarding the DEA’s fentanyl handling.
The state is investigating “fentanyl walking,” a DEA tactic where agents allegedly monitored rather than seized large quantities of fentanyl pills between 2022 and 2025 to target higher-ranking traffickers.
Mr. Comer is requesting documents and communications related to this incident, including implementation of fentanyl risk mitigation protocols and messages regarding fentanyl-related deaths in New Mexico associated with criminals under DEA surveillance.
“While DEA agents may not have the resources to intercept every single known shipment, a policy directing them not to intercept significant shipments is unconscionable and undoubtedly resulted in considerable harm and lives lost,” Mr. Comer wrote.
Mr. Torrez sought internal policies, communications and whistleblower complaints after the federal government denied the state’s initial record requests.
The Justice Department’s inspector general is also reviewing the DEA’s fentanyl-interdiction practices, following the whistleblower allegations.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.