ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As New Mexico experiences a sharp increase in drug overdose deaths, the Drug Enforcement Administration is facing scrutiny over an investigative tactic that allegedly allowed large quantities of fentanyl to reach the streets.
The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show drug overdose deaths in New Mexico increased 32% from May 2025 to May 2026. That marks the largest increase in the country.
Meanwhile, a DEA whistleblower says the agency has allowed millions of fentanyl pills to be distributed as part of investigations targeting larger drug trafficking operations.
Current DEA Special Agent David Howell told CBS News the practice, known as “fentanyl walking,” allows investigators to let suspected drug shipments continue moving so they can follow the supply chain and identify higher-level traffickers.
But Howell said the tactic can come at a deadly cost because of fentanyl’s extreme potency.
In 2023, Howell was part of a team tracking a suspect in Albuquerque from the air. Images obtained by CBS News from congressional investigators on the House Oversight Committee show a person in a white SUV picking up a child.
“We knew we weren’t going to let the drugs … hit the streets or go to the house when we knew the kid was in the car,” Howell told CBS News.
Agents in an unmarked black truck stopped the SUV, secured the child and detained the suspect.
Howell said agents found between 6,000 and 7,000 fentanyl pills inside the vehicle.
He said the agents faced backlash for seizing the drugs rather than allowing them to continue through the investigation.
“We thought the U.S. Attorney’s Office [for the District of New Mexico] would be pleased,” Howell told CBS News. “Instead, they brought us into their office and chastised us. They were perfectly willing to allow that fentanyl to go to the house with the kid.”
Emily’s Hope first reported on Howell’s whistleblower complaint in June.
Now, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico against the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. The lawsuit seeks records needed for the New Mexico Department of Justice’s investigation into allegations that DEA agents knowingly allowed large quantities of fentanyl to be distributed in the state. The allegations involve incidents in New Mexico between 2022 and 2025 and raise questions about whether the practice violated federal fentanyl protocols.
The lawsuit alleges New Mexico overdose deaths increased 21% during the period under investigation, while overdose deaths nationwide declined 14%.
