House Republicans launched probe into controversial DEA tactic

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have opened an investigation into a contentious law enforcement strategy that permitted significant quantities of lethal fentanyl to reach American streets while federal agents built larger narcotics cases.

Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the committee, sent a letter on Monday to Attorney General Todd Blanche seeking internal records regarding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s practice of tracking major fentanyl shipments without seizing the drugs.

The congressional inquiry mirrors growing alarm in New Mexico, a region severely impacted by the fentanyl crisis. Whistleblowers within the DEA recently disclosed that agents were directed to stand down rather than confiscate hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills, an instruction that may have violated Justice Department regulations designed to protect communities. Last week, the state’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department demanding access to similar records.

“While DEA agents may not have the resources to intercept every single known shipment, a policy directing them not to intercept significant shipments is unconscionable and undoubtedly resulted in considerable harm and lives lost,” Comer stated in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The DEA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The lawsuit and Capitol Hill investigation follow an AP report revealing that DEA personnel repeatedly observed major fentanyl shipments moving through New Mexico between 2023 and 2025 without taking action to seize them, allowing the narcotics to hit the streets as agents constructed their cases.

The shipments were left unseized during the most severe drug epidemic in U.S. history, despite the DEA running its public campaign — “One Pill Can Kill” — to warn that lethal doses can measure just a few milligrams. The White House has also formally designated the synthetic opioid a “weapon of mass destruction.”

Comer’s inquiry requests documentation focused exclusively on the Biden administration, pointing to what he characterized as a relaxation of safety protocols instituted during President Donald Trump’s first term. Comer maintained those guidelines were created to stop high-volume shipments from reaching the public.

Under the 2017 directives, law enforcement was instructed to “seize or otherwise prevent the distribution” of fentanyl “as soon as practicable.” However, the Justice Department updated those guidelines in 2024 to give officers significantly more latitude to delay seizures, citing “the benefits to be achieved through preserving the investigation.”

AP reporting showed that the tactical approach — often referred to as letting drugs “walk” — persisted into Trump’s second administration during the lead-up to the biggest fentanyl bust in DEA history, announced in May 2025 by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.

While that operation resulted in the seizure of roughly 3 million fentanyl pills, even greater quantities went unintercepted as agents in Albuquerque watched couriers carry backpacks containing up to 100,000 pills into local hotels.

A former DEA supervisor involved in the operation, who is now one of three whistleblowers speaking out about the practice, stated that the entire trafficking ring could have been taken down six months earlier.

The Justice Department’s inspector general announced a nationwide review this month to examine government wiretap operations and policies to determine how broadly the tactic has been employed across the country.

“Our investigations are long term and they are complex and they are done under the guidance of the law,” DEA Administrator Terry Cole said in an interview with Fox News this month addressing the watchdog probe. “We will continue to do that, but we need to stay 100% focused on the adversary.”