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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — On August 20, 2026, the same day he marked his 20th anniversary with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Special Agent David Howell sat down for an exclusive interview with KOB 4’s Tessa Mentus, reflecting on two decades spent fighting drug trafficking in New Mexico and explaining why he ultimately became a whistleblower against his own agency.
“It’s because today is my 20-year anniversary with the DEA,” Howell said when asked about the significance of the interview date. “It feels absolutely incredible. Incredible that I made it 20 years.”
Howell has spent all 20 years of his DEA career in New Mexico after first serving in the U.S. Navy. He says his mission has always been straightforward: protect the public.
“I took an oath at Quantico just like everyone else did, and I take it serious,” Howell said. “If you were to ask me to sum up our job in one sentence, it would be to protect the public.”
That belief, he says, is what ultimately led him to challenge the agency he has served for two decades.
According to Howell, the turning point came with the rise of fentanyl.
“I would say that it did what heroin did, except it made it 10 times worse,” he said. “So it killed more people. It was more accessible.”
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