New Mexico Governor Demands Federal Cash After DEA's Fentanyl Catastrophe

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is on a warpath, demanding reparations from the federal government after accusing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of letting millions of fentanyl pills flood her state during an undercover operation, all while keeping state and local officials in the dark.

Labeling the alleged operation as “the most derelict, despicable act in my long career,” Lujan Grisham claims New Mexico has been forced to spend over $1.5 billion on law enforcement, behavioral health, addiction treatment, and public safety initiatives to combat overdose deaths and rampant addiction.

“The DEA stood silently by and watched thousands of fentanyl pills get distributed with no arrests, no evidence, no notice that we know of anywhere else,” she stated during a Monday news conference. “Someone must pay for the damage to this state, the public safety risks that will be shared by everyone here for a decade.”

She demands reimbursement from the federal government for the costs incurred in battling the fentanyl epidemic, which includes law enforcement operations, behavioral health services, addiction treatment, overdose prevention, and other public safety measures.

Lujan Grisham is also calling on Congress to ban similar DEA operations in the future, insisting that the federal government must fully fund the costs imposed on states by such actions and hold responsible officials personally accountable.

“I’ve had to do this since 2019 three times,” she said. “We’re here again, and this one, in fact, I think is the most devastating.”

The Democratic governor drew parallels between this controversy and previous federal failures that she claims harmed New Mexico, including the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. Forest Service’s prescribed burns that ignited the state’s largest wildfire. She pointed out that the wildfire led to a multibillion-dollar federal liability settlement, arguing that the DEA operation should result in similar accountability.

Lujan Grisham’s administration has repeatedly requested more federal resources from both the Biden and Trump administrations to tackle New Mexico’s escalating fentanyl crisis, including additional DEA agents and coordinated enforcement efforts, but those requests have gone unanswered.

Her comments came just days after New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced a criminal investigation into allegations that the DEA knowingly allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach New Mexico communities while agents pursued larger criminal investigations.

The Associated Press previously reported that DEA agents monitored but did not seize large fentanyl shipments between 2023 and 2025 while attempting to build broader criminal cases.

Torrez stated that the investigation will explore potential legal remedies, including criminal prosecution, civil litigation, and structural reforms aimed at preventing similar conduct by DEA agents in the future.

“The families who have lost children, siblings, and parents to fentanyl deserve the truth about what the federal government knew and what it failed to do,” Torrez said in a statement.

“If the DEA stood by while poison flooded our communities, that is not a bureaucratic failure,” he continued. “It is a betrayal of the people it was sworn to protect.”

Torrez affirmed that his office “will pursue every legal avenue available to hold the responsible parties accountable and make certain this never happens again.”

On Monday, Lujan Grisham echoed Torrez’s call for accountability, insisting that those who approved or oversaw the operation should face consequences.

“I want the people who knew this distribution was occurring without notifying anyone and allowing it to occur over and over again held accountable,” she said. “My bet is many of those people are still in that DEA office.”

“I am so angry. This is an outrage,” she added. “They should be accountable for the length of time it’s going to take us to combat the scourge of addiction and fentanyl overdose deaths.”

The DEA has not yet commented on these allegations.