'We 100% Got People Killed': DEA Allowed Thousands of Fentanyl Pills on the Streets to Catch Bigger Fish

Members from the Coast Guard, Drug Enforcement Agency, Massachusetts State Police and other local and federal law-enforcement agencies offload more than 1,200 pounds of cocaine from the deck of the Coast Guard Cutter Dependable. The drug shipment is estimated to have a wholesale value of more than $20 million. (Credit: Petty Officer 2nd Class Rob Simpson/Wikimedia Commons)

At the height of America's fentanyl crisis, federal agents allegedly watched hundreds of thousands of deadly pills move through New Mexico without intervening. What makes the accusation so explosive is that it comes from inside the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) itself.

A veteran DEA agent has accused the agency of allowing enormous quantities of fentanyl to reach communities as part of an aggressive strategy designed to build larger cases against major trafficking networks. The allegations, supported by government records reviewed by the Associated Press, have reignited questions about how far law enforcement should go when pursuing organised drug operations amid an overdose epidemic that continues to claim tens of thousands of lives.