WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog has announced a review of a controversial tactic used by federal law enforcement agencies. This tactic involves allowing fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid, to hit the streets in order to build larger cases against drug traffickers.
The review will focus on government policies and wiretap investigations where the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) might have known about fentanyl deliveries beforehand but chose not to act. The goal was to avoid jeopardizing bigger prosecutions.
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Current and former agents have called this strategy, known as allowing drugs to “walk,” a dangerous gamble with public safety. They argue it may violate Justice Department rules designed to protect communities from opioids that the White House has labeled a “weapon of mass destruction.”
This review comes shortly after an Associated Press investigation revealed that DEA agents closely monitored significant fentanyl shipments in New Mexico from 2023 to 2025 without taking action to seize them. The announcement was made by Justice Department Inspector General Don Berthiaume, marking one of his first actions since being sworn in.
The DEA has not commented on this situation yet, but DEA Administrator Terry Cole has requested a narrower inquiry into the agency’s handling of a whistleblower complaint made by Agent David Howell.
Cole emphasized that this request for an external inquiry should not be seen as a lack of confidence in DEA personnel. However, Howell has stated that federal authorities “poisoned our community to make cases” in New Mexico, highlighting the serious implications of these tactics.
One internal report indicated that the DEA watched but did not intervene during a fentanyl delivery of 74,000 pills in an Albuquerque mobile home park, despite the ongoing drug epidemic in the U.S. The DEA has been running a public awareness campaign called “One Pill Can Kill,” warning about the dangers of even a small amount of fentanyl.
The Inspector General’s review will analyze the Justice Department’s actions over the past two years, which may uncover whether the DEA allowed similar drug shipments to continue in other cities. Howell expects the review to reveal that federal authorities endangered the public through inaction.
In addition, New Mexico authorities are investigating whether DEA agents violated state law by permitting hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach the streets. Attorney General Raúl Torrez has threatened to sue the Justice Department for refusing to provide requested records and has expressed frustration that the DEA has not allowed Howell to be interviewed by state authorities.
Torrez pointed out that the state is facing significant societal and financial harm due to an influx of fentanyl into its communities.
Recently, two more DEA whistleblowers from New Mexico came forward. One reported that agents failed to seize 350,000 fentanyl pills they were aware of during an intercepted call in 2024. This shipment was part of an investigation that eventually led to the largest fentanyl seizure in DEA history. There were opportunities to intervene, but agents allowed trafficking to continue for months.
The other whistleblower filed a complaint stating that his colleagues monitored but did not arrest a drug courier who made numerous deliveries of fentanyl from Phoenix to Albuquerque between 2022 and 2023. Each delivery was estimated to contain between 50,000 and 100,000 fentanyl pills, which went unseized during that time.
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Goodman reported from Miami.
