ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) 鈥� New Mexico’s governor said Monday that state officials could pursue billions of dollars in civil damages after revelations that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents repeatedly allowed shipments of fentanyl to flow into drug-plagued communities as investigators sought to build bigger cases.
vowed to take her outrage 鈥渞ight to the White House and Congress鈥� to seek assurances the DEA is no longer using the risky law enforcement strategy in New Mexico 鈥� and that it is not being replicated elsewhere. Overdoses have surged in New Mexico, even as fentanyl deaths declined in other states.
鈥淭his is a stunning failure by the federal government,鈥� the governor told reporters at a news conference in the state medical examiner’s office in Albuquerque, joining a host of state and local law enforcers and officials demanding answers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 disgusting and despicable.鈥�
The White House and DEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lujan Grisham’s remarks came a week after that DEA agents repeatedly monitored 鈥� but did not seize 鈥� shipments of fentanyl as part of an effort to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.
Current and former DEA agents, including whistleblower David Howell, told AP the strategy amounted to a gamble with public safety and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.
The DEA initially denied Howell鈥檚 allegations in a statement to AP. But the agency later called upon the Justice Department鈥檚 independent watchdog .
The fentanyl went unseized amid the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history and as the DEA led a public awareness campaign 鈥� 鈥淥ne Pill Can Kill鈥� 鈥� emphasizing that even a few milligrams of the substance can be lethal.
New Mexico has responded swiftly to the revelations. Last week, the state’s attorney general announced a to determine whether any federal officials broke state law by knowingly exposing New Mexico residents to the synthetic opioid.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to protect the rest of the United States from this kind of foul, 鈥業 need a big case’ effort no matter what the consequences,鈥� Lujan Grisham said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e angry because it鈥檚 immoral.”
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said fentanyl represents his city’s 鈥淣o. 1 challenge,” driving crime and homelessness and straining health care resources.
鈥淯sing us in some sort of uninformed, undisciplined experiment that鈥檚 literally killing our people 鈥� that鈥檚 what this is,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his should outrage every single New Mexican.鈥�
Trump last week shared a link on his Truth Social page to an article attributing the scandal to the 鈥淏iden-run Justice Department.鈥� In a statement to AP last week, the Justice Department similarly said 鈥渢he alleged conduct occurred under the Biden Administration鈥檚 disastrous open border policies.鈥�
Howell first came forward during the Biden administration in 2023 鈥� and was sidelined for doing so 鈥� but he continued to flag unseized fentanyl shipments as recently as last year, and the largest he documented happened two months into Trump’s second term, a 1.8-million pill haul DEA learned about but did not intercept in March 2025.
Lujan Grisham has criticized both administrations as not doing enough to stem the tide of fentanyl in New Mexico, and pointed to the death last year of a 15-month-old girl who reportedly swallowed some of her mother’s drugs in Espa帽ola, a town ravaged by grinding poverty and addiction.
It is not clear whether any fatal overdoses in the state can be directly attributed to the DEA strategy. While , government data show New Mexico tallied a 21% spike.
鈥淪omebody must pay for the damage to the state, the public safety risks that will be shared by everyone here for a decade or more, and pay to try to right the wrongs and put people鈥檚 lives back together,鈥� she said.
Lujan Grisham, who will leave office at year’s end after two terms as governor, said the worst part of being an elected leader is having to face the victims of what she called 鈥渟enseless鈥� devastation and loss.
鈥淭here are no words that can take away that pain,鈥� she said, adding their experiences cannot be dismissed by politics as usual. 鈥淲hatever we can do to prevent the next loss for the next family, is the work that we鈥檙e all collectively doing.”
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Mustian and Goodman reported from Miami.
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