New Mexico delegation urges DOJ watchdog to broaden DEA fentanyl review
New Mexico’s congressional delegation is asking the Justice Department inspector general to expand its review of federal fentanyl investigations, citing whistleblower allegations involving DEA operations in the state.
Lawmakers want investigators to examine alleged DEA practices before 2024 and whether decisions contributed to overdose deaths in the state
Organ Mountain News report
ALBUQUERQUE - New Mexico’s congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Department of Justice inspector general to broaden an investigation into federal fentanyl enforcement practices, citing whistleblower allegations that Drug Enforcement Administration agents allowed large quantities of fentanyl to reach communities in the state.
U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández, Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez asked the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General to examine DEA practices dating to before 2024, with a particular focus on New Mexico.
The request follows the inspector general’s Aug. 17 announcement of a review into federal fentanyl investigations, including cases in which investigators allegedly allowed shipments containing fentanyl to continue moving rather than immediately seizing them.
The lawmakers said the current review may not reach far enough.
They cited a whistleblower allegation that DEA agents monitored a trafficker who repeatedly delivered fentanyl from Phoenix to Albuquerque in 2022 and 2023. The delegation said the allegation raises questions about whether the practice of allowing fentanyl shipments to “walk” extended further back than the period currently under review.
“There is reason to suspect that the DEA’s policies of allowing fentanyl to ‘walk’ stretches back before 2023,” the lawmakers wrote. “For that reason, we believe the OIG should expand its scope of review.”
The delegation also asked investigators to examine whether DEA decisions contributed to overdose deaths in New Mexico.
According to the lawmakers’ letter, federal data showed overdose deaths declined nationally in 2025 while increasing 21% in New Mexico. The delegation said the timing warrants investigation but did not establish that DEA practices caused the increase.
“The people of New Mexico deserve answers as to why the agency charged with seizing drugs instead allowed deadly pills to flood their streets,” the lawmakers wrote.
The latest request follows a July letter from the delegation seeking answers from DEA Administrator Terrance Cole about reports that agents declined to seize large fentanyl shipments destined for New Mexico.
The delegation is asking the inspector general to conduct what it described as a full investigation of the allegations and DEA practices in New Mexico.
