New Mexico officials are threatening to pursue millions of dollars in civil damages after an Associated Press report found federal drug enforcement agents allowed fentanyl into the state as part of trafficking investigations.

In 2025, nationwide drug overdose deaths fell by nearly 14% but rose 21% in New Mexico. According to AP reporting, beginning in 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into New Mexico communities in hopes of busting drug trafficking rings.

Katie Witkiewitz, professor of psychology and director of the Center on Alcohol, Substance Use and Addictions at the University of New Mexico, said fentanyl’s arrival in New Mexico’s drug supply was devastating.

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“There was a period where there wasn't fentanyl, and so I knew the introduction of fentanyl in the New Mexico drug supply was going to be devastating,” Witkiewitz recounted. “To the extent that the DEA played a role in that is really tragic.”

The AP based its reporting on internal DEA records and an agency whistleblower. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed outrage over the report and said the state could pursue millions of dollars in civil damages.

The DEA has since said the Justice Department’s independent watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, will conduct an independent review of the agency’s actions.

Public health and criminal justice research consistently shows incarceration, which is often used to address drug use, does not cure addiction, reduce drug misuse or prevent future crimes. Witkiewitz noted the Trump administration has announced plans to deny federal funds for newer, more effective tools.

“That includes harm reduction programs, needle exchange, naloxone distribution, distributing fentanyl test strips and harm reduction supplies, and all of that is being cut by the current administration,” Witkiewitz outlined.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it instead will return to prioritizing abstinence-based treatment and a focus on “parental authority” in health education.

Last year, New Mexico deployed its National Guard to Albuquerque and other locations to assist police with open-air drug use in what the governor described as severe and far-reaching public safety threats, including from fentanyl and other illicit drugs.