New Facts: DEA requests DOJ watchdog review

The Drug Enforcement Administration asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate a whistleblower’s claims that DEA agents allowed large quantities of fentanyl to reach the streets during an investigation, including in New Mexico. The claims say agents let fentanyl enter communities instead of seizing it as part of the case.

The request puts the matter before the department’s internal watchdog rather than being handled solely within the DEA. It asks for an outside review of the investigation and of decisions that allegedly let fentanyl circulate in communities.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources