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DEA agent says agency let fentanyl pills reach the street
DEA Special Agent David Howell told CBS News that investigators allowed millions of fentanyl pills to "walk" in New Mexico, a claim the Justice Department says is under inspector-general review.
- New headline Was: “Whistleblower says DEA let fentanyl pills hit the streets”
- Our desk filed its story
We at the DEA have let drugs hit the street, yes. — DEA Special Agent David Howell
A veteran Drug Enforcement Administration agent told CBS News on Thursday that the agency has allowed millions of fentanyl pills to reach the street, including in New Mexico, where officials have declared a local emergency over overdose calls1.
DEA Special Agent David Howell, still on the job, said in his first television interview that he had warned managers for three years that dangerous amounts of fentanyl were being allowed out and that they did not act1.
Howell said investigators used a "walk" tactic, letting traffickers move product so agents could follow it to larger cases, and that the approach did more harm than good because fentanyl is so lethal1. "We at the DEA have let drugs hit the street, yes," he said, adding that agents had been told not to do that with fentanyl1.
He described a 2023 Albuquerque surveillance case in which a suspect in a white SUV picked up a child1. Howell said agents stopped the vehicle, secured the child and found 6,000 to 7,000 fentanyl pills and a gun in a compartment under the seat where the child sat1. CBS News said it obtained aerial images and photos of the seizure from House Oversight Committee investigators1.
Howell said the U.S. attorney's office for the District of New Mexico later criticized the team for taking the pills off the street rather than letting them go to the house with the child1. CBS News noted his whistleblower complaint was first reported last June by the Associated Press and the Albuquerque Journal1.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has sued the federal government over walking fentanyl, tying the state's worsening trend to the practice, according to CBS News1. Officials in the wider Albuquerque area have declared a state of emergency because of rising fentanyl overdose calls1.
The DEA and the Justice Department declined CBS News interview requests1. The department said that when the whistleblower came forward, DEA Administrator Cole immediately requested an independent investigation by the DOJ inspector general, that the inquiry remains open, and that it cannot comment on ongoing investigations1. The DEA also said it would implement improvements if they are identified1.
