DOJ Watchdog Opens Review of DEA Fentanyl-Walking Tactic

The Justice Department's inspector general announced Monday a nationwide review of a Drug Enforcement Administration practice in which agents learned of fentanyl shipments through court-approved wiretaps but let the drugs reach the streets to build larger cases against traffickers. The review is one of the first official actions of Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume, who was sworn in on Friday.

The announcement follows reporting by the Associated Press and the Albuquerque Journal in June that found DEA agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — major fentanyl shipments moving through New Mexico between 2023 and 2025. Current and former agents told the AP the strategy, known as letting drugs "walk," amounts to a gamble with public safety and may have violated Justice Department rules meant to protect communities from a synthetic opioid the White House last year designated a weapon of mass destruction.

What the review will examine

In a news release, the independent watchdog said the review will examine "applicable DOJ-wide, Criminal Division and DEA policies, protocols, guidance, instructions, and training regarding risk assessment and mitigation," along with how investigators applied those rules in practice.

The inquiry will focus primarily on the department's actions over the past two years, but it may reach back further — including to the fentanyl investigations in New Mexico — when necessary to understand context. The office said it "will not substitute its judgment for the legal or investigative judgments of DOJ personnel," and, as required by law, will issue a public report when the review is complete.

One open question is whether the practice extended beyond New Mexico. The inspector general's review could determine whether agents permitted similar shipments to proceed in other cities.

The shipments that triggered the scrutiny

The AP's June investigation documented a series of wiretap cases in which federal agents in Albuquerque watched fentanyl move and chose not to intervene. An internal DEA report reviewed by the news service detailed one delivery of 74,000 fentanyl pills to a mobile home park in Albuquerque that agents declined to interdict.

In recent weeks, two more DEA whistleblowers in New Mexico have come forward. One said colleagues failed to seize 350,000 fentanyl pills they learned about during the very first call intercepted in a 2024 wiretap — an investigation that ultimately produced the largest fentanyl seizure in DEA history. Court records show agents had repeated opportunities to seize thousands of pills but allowed trafficking to continue for months.

The other whistleblower filed a complaint this month alleging that agents monitored but never arrested a courier making repeated fentanyl deliveries from Phoenix to Albuquerque between 2022 and 2023. Agents estimated each run carried between 50,000 and 100,000 pills that went unseized.

The unseized drugs moved during the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history — and while the DEA itself was running the "One Pill Can Kill" public awareness campaign warning that a few milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal.

Whistleblowers say the public was endangered

The original complaint came from David Howell, a veteran DEA agent in Albuquerque, who told the AP that federal authorities "poisoned our community to make cases." He said he expects the inspector general's review to show that authorities "endangered the public through willful inaction."

DEA Administrator Terry Cole had requested a narrower inspector general inquiry after the AP's reporting, including a review of the agency's handling of Howell's complaint. Cole wrote in an earlier statement that the request "should not be interpreted as reflecting any lack of confidence in the professionalism or integrity of DEA personnel." The review announced Monday is broader than what Cole sought. The DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A parallel criminal investigation in New Mexico

The federal review lands as New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez continues his own criminal investigation into whether DEA agents broke state law by allowing hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills onto Albuquerque's streets — a probe his office opened in late June, days after the AP's initial findings.

Torrez recently threatened to sue the Justice Department after it refused to turn over records he requested, and the DEA has not allowed state investigators to interview Howell. "The state is bearing the societal and financial harms of an influx of fentanyl into its communities," Torrez wrote in a letter to federal authorities earlier this month.

New Mexico has recorded the nation's steepest increase in overdose deaths for two consecutive years even as national fatalities decline. Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque, reported 312 confirmed overdose deaths in 2025, with fentanyl involved in nearly three-quarters of them.

What comes next

Inspector general reviews do not produce criminal charges on their own, but their public reports often force policy changes and can refer misconduct for prosecution. For families who have lost someone to fentanyl and other opioids, the review's central question is whether a tactic designed to take down trafficking networks instead fed the crisis it was meant to fight.

The watchdog has given no timeline for completing the review. Torrez's state investigation, which could bring charges under New Mexico statutes regardless of the federal outcome, is ongoing.