‘We poisoned our community’: 4 reactions to DEA allowing fentanyl pills to hit the streets

A whistleblower’s allegation that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to move through New Mexico as part of a broader investigation is drawing outrage from law enforcement and elected officials who say the tactic may have cost lives.

Between 2023 and 2025, DEA agents monitored shipments of fentanyl pills but did not seize them, according to reports reviewed by The Associated Press. The reported goal was to build larger cases against drug traffickers, but critics say the strategy gambled with the lives of New Mexico residents.

Here are four reactions to the report that the DEA allowed fentanyl to hit the streets as part of an enforcement strategy.