300,000+ fentanyl pills walked onto New Mexico communities while Senator Luján's hand-picked U.S. Attorney looked the other way

Albuquerque, NM — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Larry Marker today called for a full federal investigation into the Drug Enforcement Administration's deliberate decision to allow hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach New Mexico communities, and demanded Senator Ben Ray Luján answer for his role in confirming the U.S. Attorney who presided over the deadly policy.

"New Mexico mothers are burying their children, and we now know that federal agents watched drug dealers deliver hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills, and did nothing," Marker said. "This is a betrayal of every New Mexican. And Ben Ray Luján has to answer a simple question: did he ever bother to ask Alex Uballez what was happening on his watch?"

Reporting by the Albuquerque Journal and the Associated Press reveals that DEA agents in Albuquerque monitored—but deliberately did not seize—at least 300,000 fentanyl pills between 2023 and 2025 as part of long-term trafficking investigations. A decorated 19-year DEA veteran, Special Agent David Howell, blew the whistle on the practice and was subsequently stripped of courtroom testimony privileges and relegated to desk duty in what advocates are calling clear retaliation.

All of this occurred under the watch of U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez, a Biden appointee confirmed with Ben Ray Luján's vote.

When confronted by reporters, Uballez didn't deny it. He defended it.

"I don't think I'd contest that drugs are 'walked,'" Uballez told the Albuquerque Journal. And to the Associated Press, he offered this justification for letting fentanyl flood New Mexico neighborhoods: "The bigger fish are worth catching, and that will save more lives."

"Tell that to Christy Chavez," Marker said. "Tell that to every family in this state who lost someone to a little blue pill while federal prosecutors were playing a long game with people's lives. Alex Uballez looked New Mexico in the eye and essentially said the quiet part out loud. They knew, they watched, and they made a choice. Ben Ray Luján put that man in office and never once demanded accountability."

Chavez, a Rio Rancho mother whose 20-year-old son Jesse died of fentanyl toxicity on December 21, 2023—four days before Christmas—learned of the DEA's tactics through the Journal's reporting. She stayed up all night making signs and took to the streets of Downtown Albuquerque in protest.

"I never once imagined that it was in the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration," Chavez told the Journal. "This is the greatest betrayal."

New Mexico now leads the nation in the rate of increase in drug overdose deaths, recording a nearly 23% spike in the 12 months ending January 2026, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even as overdose deaths fell 14% nationally. It is the second consecutive year New Mexico has held that grim distinction.

Marker praised Special Agent Howell for his courage and called his treatment a disgrace.

"Agent Howell did exactly what we should want every federal law enforcement officer to do. He saw something wrong, he said something, and he tried to stop it," Marker said. "His reward was to have his career gutted. That is what happens when political appointees protect their investigations over people's lives."

Marker called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to immediately convene hearings and on the DOJ Inspector General—who has now been formally asked to investigate—to act without delay.

"Every day of silence is a day New Mexico families don't get the truth they deserve," Marker said. "I will go to Washington to fight for those families, not for the federal bureaucrats who let them down."

Larry Marker is a Republican candidate for the United States Senate in New Mexico.