Democratic New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham late Wednesday called for an investigation into the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), following allegations that the agency allowed thousands of fentanyl pills to flood across her state’s border with Mexico during the Biden administration.
Recent reporting suggests that the DEA closely monitored but did not intercept multiple large-scale fentanyl deals from 2023–2025 in order to build larger drug-trafficking cases.
“There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway,” Grisham said. “The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids are growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.”
Grisham announced that she had just written to the New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, asking him to investigate whether any federal agents had broken a law by allowing the fentanyl deliveries to go by unchecked. She said she told Torrez to prosecute anyone responsible, whether or not they were a federal agent.
“If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise,” Grisham said. “New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.” (RELATED: Nurse Pilfered Fentanyl From Tennessee Hospital For Months And AI Overlooked It)
Grisham recalled how she had requested aid from the federal government five times since 2022, four during the Biden administration and once during the Trump administration. She had asked for additional agents and resources to help stop the drug trafficking across the New Mexico border.
“I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis,” Grisham continued.
“I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in,” Grisham said.
The DEA referred the Daily Caller to the statement on their homepage when reached for comment.
“DEA has never been more focused, more aligned, or more dedicated to attacking the fentanyl crisis than we are right now,” DEA Administrator Terry Cole said on a video at the front of the DEA’s homepage. “Thanks to President Trump and the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, DEA is able to attack this crisis from every possible angle.”
The DEA did not directly respond to Governor Grisham’s call for an investigation.