Story perspectives

DEA Accused of Allowing 300,000 Fentanyl Pills as Cases Surge

6/30/2026

Summary

Story summary

A whistleblower claims the DEA deliberately let fentanyl pills circulate in New Mexico from 2023-2025.
19-year-old DEA agent David Howell says over 300,000 pills were sold under surveillance.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raul Torrez opened investigation, will seek a White House meeting and pursue hundreds-of-millions.
Opioid disorder cases rose from 44,000 in 2020 to about 83,000 in 2024, with overdose deaths set to rise 26% this year.

History

Historical Context

In 1995 the FDA approved Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin, and Purdue’s aggressive marketing drove prescriptions from roughly 670,000 in 1997 to about 6.2 million by 2002, generating billions in revenue and fueling widespread misuse. Decades later, DEA agents in New Mexico allege the bureau knowingly permitted fentanyl-laden counterfeit pills to flood the market, a pattern critics say echoes the lax oversight that allowed OxyContin’s epidemic to expand.

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Story summary

A whistleblower claims the DEA deliberately let fentanyl pills circulate in New Mexico from 2023-2025.
19-year-old DEA agent David Howell says over 300,000 pills were sold under surveillance.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raul Torrez opened investigation, will seek a White House meeting and pursue hundreds-of-millions.
Opioid disorder cases rose from 44,000 in 2020 to about 83,000 in 2024, with overdose deaths set to rise 26% this year.

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