DEA Agent Alleges Agency Let Millions of Fentanyl Pills Reach Streets

A veteran Drug Enforcement Administration agent has accused the federal agency of allowing millions of fentanyl pills to reach communities despite warnings about the drug's dangers. David Howell, an active DEA special agent, told CBS News that agency managers ignored his concerns, while New Mexico officials have raised alarms about rising fentanyl-related emergencies.

Howell said investigators allowed suspected drug traffickers to distribute fentanyl as part of an investigative tactic intended to build larger criminal cases. He argued that the approach has endangered communities because of the drug's extreme lethality.

Howell described raising concerns with agency leadership over a three-year period.

"For three years, I've told my DEA managers that we're allowing dangerous amounts of fentanyl to hit the street, and we're doing nothing to stop it, and they didn't listen to me," DEA Special Agent David Howell told CBS News.

The investigative practice, known as allowing drugs to "walk," involves permitting suspected traffickers to distribute narcotics while investigators follow the operation to develop broader cases. Howell said fentanyl requires a different approach because of its potential consequences.

"We at the DEA have let drugs hit the street, yes. The difference was we were told not to with fentanyl," Howell said.

In 2023, Howell participated in an aerial surveillance operation targeting a suspect in Albuquerque. Images obtained by CBS News from congressional investigators on the House Oversight Committee showed a person driving a white SUV and picking up a child.

Howell said the presence of the child influenced the team's decision to intervene before the suspected drugs could be delivered.

"We knew we weren't going to let the drugs … hit the streets or go to the house when we knew the kid was in the car," Howell said.

Agents in a black truck stopped the SUV, secured the child and detained the suspect. Howell said officers recovered between 6,000 and 7,000 fentanyl pills and a firearm from a compartment beneath the seat where the child had been sitting.

"We took his drugs. We took his gun. It was in a little compartment underneath the seat that the child was sitting on," Howell said.

Howell said the agents expected prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico to support the seizure. Instead, he said, the team was reprimanded for removing the fentanyl from circulation.

"We thought the U.S. Attorney's Office [for the District of New Mexico] would be pleased," Howell said.

Howell described the response as a sharp contrast to what the agents had anticipated during the operation.

"Instead, they brought us into their office and chastised us. They were perfectly willing to allow that fentanyl to go to the house with the kid," Howell said.

Howell's whistleblower complaint was first reported last June by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has also sued the federal government over the practice of allowing fentanyl to reach the streets during investigations.

Torrez linked the practice to the state's worsening drug crisis and raised concerns about its consequences for local communities.

"There's no escaping the conclusion that New Mexico moving in the wrong direction seems to be directly connected to this practice of walking fentanyl in this community," New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said.

Officials across the greater Albuquerque area have declared a state of emergency in response to an increase in fentanyl overdose calls. The declarations reflect growing concern among local authorities about the effects of the drug on their communities.

The DEA and the Department of Justice declined CBS News' requests for interviews. The Justice Department said an independent investigation was underway following Howell's complaint.

"When this whistleblower came forward, DEA Administrator Cole immediately requested an independent investigation by DOJ IG. That investigation remains ongoing, and we cannot comment on the status of ongoing investigations," the Department of Justice said in a statement provided to CBS News.

The DEA has also addressed the possibility of changes following the review.

"If improvements are identified, DEA will implement them," the agency said.

Howell said he came forward because of the damage he believes fentanyl has caused in Albuquerque.

"Our city is being destroyed by this drug," Howell said. "That's why we're sitting here, and that's what I'm here to tell the people," Howell said.