WASHINGTON (TNND) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to three current and former DEA agents and government records reviewed by the Associated Press.
Attorney Tristan Leavitt, President of Empower Oversight, represents one of those agents, David Howell, a 19-year veteran of the agency, whose whistleblower complaint was detailed by the AP. Howell claimed that the DEA let fentanyl “walk” into local communities to build larger cases against drug cartels. Leavitt told The National News Desk on Tuesday that Howell, who first filed a whistleblower complaint in 2023, became aware of this guidance in a case he was working where there was fentanyl they knew was being trafficked.
They had a federal wiretap up on this individual and when the time came they were told by the U.S. attorney's office in New Mexico to stand down and not to seize the fentanyl in that case,” said Leavitt.
Leavitt said the fentanyl "walking" directly violated 2019 DOJ protocols requiring agents with probable cause to seize fentanyl—a substance the Trump administration has since designated a weapon of mass destruction.
David Howell spoke up about that. He believed they had a duty to seize these, and the U.S. attorney's office didn't like that. So, they took him off of testifying on cases,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt shared that as Howell continued to talk to others, he heard about even larger...
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