近距离内射合集

The U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 internal watchdog Monday announced a nationwide investigation into how Drug Enforcement Administration agents have chosen not to seize suspected fentanyl shipments during drug trafficking investigations.

Meanwhile, a parallel investigation into the DEA practice by New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez鈥檚 office appears stalled after the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in New Mexico declined to produce requested documents by a Monday deadline. That could set up a clash in federal court between the two agencies.

The announcement by the DOJ Office of Inspector General in Washington comes under the new leadership of Don R. Berthiaume and after reports by the 近距离内射合集 and The Associated Press that massive amounts of the synthetic opioid have reached the streets during DEA wiretap investigations in New Mexico since 2023.

The DEA administrator Terrance Cole had asked for a narrower probe after the June 21 publication of the stories, which were based in part on a whistleblower complaint filed by a veteran DEA agent in Albuquerque. The agent has estimated that more than 2 million fentanyl pills were 鈥渨alked鈥� by agents from 2023 to 2025 in an effort to build larger drug trafficking prosecutions.

The OIG inquiry will take a broad look at whether DEA offices in other states are also using the tactic despite an internal DOJ protocol that has required at least a reasonable effort to stop such loads when possible.

鈥淲e welcome a third-party review of the tactics DEA and the New Mexico U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office used to needlessly put Americans at risk of exposure to fentanyl,鈥� said Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, a Fairfax, Virginia-based organization that represents three current or former DEA agents in Albuquerque.

鈥淚f other districts used 鈥� or are still using 鈥� these tactics, it鈥檚 imperative that the public be informed, and that DOJ revert to the fentanyl policy it had during the first Trump administration,鈥� Leavitt told the Journal.

Less than a year after Albuquerque DEA agent David Howell filed his whistleblower complaint in 2023, the DOJ relaxed an internal risk mitigation protocol designed to protect public safety when agents conducting wiretap investigations learn of targets鈥� fentanyl deals.

In the revision released in mid-2024, the word 鈥減rotocol鈥� became 鈥済uidance,鈥� and agents were no longer required to put public safety ahead of the viability of a trafficking investigation.

Since then, President Trump has described fentanyl as a 鈥渨eapon of mass destruction.鈥�

In September, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel reported that Howell鈥檚 complaint was unsubstantiated and that no substantial harm had occurred from the fentanyl distributions in New Mexico.

The DEA, which did not respond to a Journal request for comment about the OIG investigation, has previously denied that fentanyl was intentionally not seized but later stated that its investigative decisions, made with federal prosecutors, were lawful and within the agency鈥檚 discretion.

Defenders of the practice say not immediately seizing fentanyl allows agents to identify and eventually arrest U.S. ringleaders of organizations that typically acquire their fentanyl from Mexican sources.

But critics, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, have slammed the practice as needlessly jeopardizing the public in New Mexico, which continues to experience high rates of fatal drug overdoses per capita and fentanyl-fueled crime.

New Mexico led the country in drug overdose deaths per capita from February 2025 through January 2026, the most recent 12-month period for which data is available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was more than twice the national average for the period.

The OIG review will focus primarily on the DOJ鈥檚 actions during the last two years, 鈥渂ut it may consider earlier events, such as those that occurred in fentanyl-related federal investigations in New Mexico, when necessary to understand the context of the matters under review.鈥�

Among other things, the OIG will examine whether and why risk mitigation strategies, including interdiction, are delayed or declined; who makes and approves such decisions; whether and how those decisions are documented or reported; and whether DOJ personnel conduct after-action reviews. A public report will be issued when the review is completed.

Meanwhile, New Mexico Department of Justice Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez told the Journal that as of Monday, the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office 鈥渉as not produced any of the requested records or provided a substantive response.鈥�

Torrez had given First Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison until Monday to turn over numerous DEA-related records so Torrez鈥檚 office could determine, in part, whether any state criminal violations occurred. Ellison, whose office did not return a Journal request for comment Monday, has previously said the records request did not conform with federal rules.

Rodriguez said her office made clear that Ellison鈥檚 鈥渙bjections were legally unfounded鈥� and gave him until Monday to begin producing priority materials, including DEA fentanyl seizure policies and investigative records.

鈥淭heir refusal to be transparent about these operations,鈥� Rodriguez added, 鈥渁nd the harm they caused New Mexicans, is forcing us to take the next step: seeking judicial review to get the answers our state deserves.鈥�

Colleen Heild is an investigative reporter for the Journal. You can reach her at cheild@abqjournal.com.