A third whistleblower came forward about a Biden-era operation involving alleged massive shipments of fentanyl into the United States that federal agents were told to track and not seize. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting an internal probe of the operation that critics say likely led to numerous deaths. The most recent whistleblower complaint details a November 2022 fentanyl delivery from Arizona to New Mexico where Drug Enforcement Administration agents were told to monitor the shipment but not arrest anyone. “Agents believe the courier made a minimum of at least five large deliveries over the following months, each time bringing 50,000-100,000 fentanyl pills and 20-40 pounds of methamphetamine per trip,” the complaint says. “The DEA did not arrest the courier until June 2023; at that time, agents found him with 19 kilograms of methamphetamine and 7 kilograms of fentanyl.” According to the DEA, as few as two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size and tolerance, and one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. The new complaint also notes that during a training session, one DEA agent dismissed concerns about the operation, saying, “We walk fentanyl,” but adding that federal prosecutors were aware of it. The complaint comes after the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General interviewed two other whistleblowers—former DEA Special Agent David Howell and financial investigator Kevin Small, who worked as a contractor for the DEA’s Albuquerque office—on Friday and Monday, respectively. Howell was the first to blow the whistle on the operation, alleging that the DEA allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into New Mexico because Justice Department prosecutors wanted to track the shipments and bring a bigger criminal case against traffickers. Former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Alex Uballez, oversaw the program, Howell said. Uballez publicly defended the operation, telling The Associated Press it saved lives, was key to intelligence gathering on drug traffickers, and that “the bigger fish are worth catching.” Howell also alleged that he faced retaliation by DEA officials for exposing the program. The new 20-page complaint is from a DEA special agent whose name is redacted in the document released by his attorney. Similar to Small’s complaint, the third whistleblower alleges retaliation by Jeffrey Armijo, the assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s Albuquerque office. In a March 28, 2025, conversation detailed in the complaint, Armijo screamed, “This is a one way conversation and this stays within my office.” The complaint alleges Armijo threatened to have the whistleblower moved to a different office and said, “I will ice you like Dave [Howell] where you will not work another case again.” 2026-08-03_TL_to_OSC_-_PPP_Complaint__redacted,_no_attachments_Download Empower Oversight, a whistleblower advocacy group representing all three whistleblowers, sent the new complaint to the Office of Special Counsel late Monday afternoon and forwarded it to the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General. The offices have the unredacted version of the complaint. The Daily Signal contacted the press office at DEA headquarters in Washington and left a voicemail with the DEA district office in Albuquerque but did not receive a response before publication. The Daily Signal contacted the office of the New Mexico Attorney General but did not receive a response before publication. ‘Fast and Furious’ Comparisons The operation has invited comparisons to an Obama administration program of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, in which gun shipments were allowed to travel into Mexico; two of the guns were found at the scene of the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Interestingly, the whistleblower complaint notes that the U.S. Justice Department Office of Enforcement Operations conducted a May 9, 2024, training session that included a reference to Operation Fast and Furious. This prompted Howell to raise concerns about the DEA’s program, the new complaint says. “When the OEO attorneys opened for questions toward the end of the training, SA Howell raised his hand and commented that he believed the Albuquerque District Office needed more training on risk mitigation and expressed concern that OEO, and therefore the Criminal Division’s DAAG, wasn’t being notified regarding the amount of fentanyl that was being allowed to walk in Albuquerque,” the complaint says. “An agent from Group 3 interrupted, saying, ‘We walk fentanyl and our AUSAs are aware.’” AUSAs are assistant U.S. attorneys, in this case working under the U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico. A 2024 Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility report said agents had “discretion” in deciding when to seize drugs. While previous whistleblower complaints said the New Mexico fentanyl walking began in 2023 and ran into March 2025, during the first months of the Trump administration, the new complaint details conversations and confrontations between the whistleblower and his supervisors, namely Armijo, well into 2026. State Investigation Leavitt, of Empower Oversight, told the Daily Signal the U.S. Justice Department has asked his clients not to work with New Mexico state investigators for the time being. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez this week turned up the heat on the U.S. Justice Department, challenging the agency’s refusal to cooperate with state investigators. Torrez said in a letter to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico that his office is “investigating the decisions and conduct of the DEA that resulted in a significant quantity of fentanyl unseized on the streets and in the communities of New Mexico.” “I further previously explained that the investigation requires access to the full record of the DEA’s activities, operational guidance, and changes to operational guidance in order to assess the lawfulness of these practices,” he continued. He later added, “To that end, NMDOJ seeks to review USDOJ protocols governing fentanyl seizure decisions, and protocols that were apparently rewritten in 2024 to afford agents greater discretion on the timing of fentanyl seizures.” In a July 29 letter, Ellison told Torrez the Justice Department must regulate access to government information contained in its files or obtained by its employees during the scope of their official duties. Further, it said the U.S. Justice Department cannot be compelled to respond to a demand for documents if it is not a party in the case. The Daily Signal reached out to the Justice Department Tuesday afternoon but did not immediately receive a comment. A DOJ spokesperson commented to the Daily Signal on the matter in June. “The alleged conduct occurred under the Biden Administration’s disastrous open border policies. The Trump administration has closed the border and is aggressively pursuing drug traffickers,” the DOJ spokesperson said in a June statement. “DEA Administrator Cole has requested an independent DOJ-OIG review of DEA’s actions in light of this reporting to reaffirm the public’s confidence in our law enforcement agencies. Should that review identify areas of improvement, the DEA will of course implement changes to better their practices.” “This success has been achieved less than two years into this Administration. We welcome a partnership with Governor Lujan Grisham, as well as New Mexico state and local leaders, to fight the scourge of fentanyl and keep her constituents safe,” the spokesperson added.