ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's governor said Monday that state officials could pursue billions of dollars in civil damages after revelations that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents repeatedly allowed shipments of fentanyl to flow into drug-plagued communities as investigators sought to build bigger cases.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vowed to take her outrage "right to the White House and Congress" to seek ****** urances the DEA is no longer using the risky law enforcement strategy in New Mexico — and that it is not being replicated elsewhere. Overdoses have surged in New Mexico, even as fentanyl deaths declined in other states.
"This is a stunning failure by the federal government," the governor told reporters at a news conference in the state medical examiner's office in Albuquerque, joining a host of state and local law enforcers and officials demanding answers. "It's disgusting and despicable."
The DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson noted that President Donald Trump has classified fentanyl a "weapon of mass destruction" and signed into law legislation cracking down on the synthetic opioid.