Publisher: NPR / Associated Press (Jim Mustian)
Date Published: June 25, 2026
Relevant To: Federal law enforcement accountability (tangential)
Verification Status: Verified
Notes: AP investigation (Jim Mustian) found the DEA allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit New Mexico streets from 2023-2025 to build bigger federal prosecutions, tracking shipments via wiretaps, geolocation, and aerial surveillance without seizing the drugs. Whistleblower David Howell (19-year DEA veteran) came forward; DOJ subsequently loosened seizure guidelines rather than tightening them. A toddler’s death in Espanola, NM is cited as a case Howell flagged. DEA has requested an independent DOJ Inspector General review; NM governor announced a state investigation. Not a core surveillance story, but relevant as a federal law-enforcement accountability/whistleblower case — tangential to BPA’s usual ALPR/fusion-center focus but worth having on file.