Governor, mayor, sheriff slam feds over fentanyl tactics - Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen on Wednesday criticized federal drug agents for allowing hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach New Mexico streets since 2023.
The officials expressed frustration following investigative reports published Monday by the Journal showing that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration monitored suspected drug traffickers through wiretaps but allowed numerous fentanyl transactions to proceed as part of efforts to build larger criminal cases.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Lujan Grisham called the DEA's actions "reckless and dangerous" and said she had asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether federal agents violated state laws by allowing fentanyl to remain on the streets.
She urged the New Mexico Attorney General's Office to prosecute anyone responsible, "regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not."
"Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway," Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by."
Last year, Lujan Grisham deployed New Mexico National Guard personnel to assist Albuquerque police with non-law enforcement duties related to open-air drug use and homelessness, particularly in the International District along East Central Avenue.
She later sent National Guard personnel to northern New Mexico to support local governments facing what her administration described as severe and far-reaching public safety threats, including those related to fentanyl and other illicit drugs.
In Wednesday's statement, the governor said she repeatedly asked former President Joe Biden's administration and federal officials to send additional resources to combat the state's drug epidemic.
"While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in," she said. "I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action to right these wrongs."
Keller, in a social media statement, said the fentanyl epidemic has "torn through our streets" and that he was angered to learn lives may have been lost because of DEA decisions.
"It is disgusting to think that federal authorities may have allowed hundreds of thousands of these deadly pills to move into our community and possibly killed people through their actions," he wrote.
Allen told the Journal he has serious concerns about the DEA's handling of the investigations and believes the outcomes did not justify the tactics.
"We're basically allowing the DEA to feed poison to our community for a bigger case," he said. "I agree with getting the big fish and everything, but not when people are dying while we're doing these investigations. It angers me, it frustrates me and it makes me ask numerous questions."
The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office has worked closely with the DEA since Allen disbanded the agency's narcotics unit to reduce the risk of internal corruption in drug investigations. Deputies assigned to narcotics cases operate under the DEA's umbrella, and some serve on federal task forces. Allen declined to say how many deputies participate, citing safety concerns.
Although "walking" narcotics shipments is a longstanding and controversial law enforcement tactic, Allen said he would not support its use in fentanyl investigations.
"I would not allow that to happen, nor allow my people to take part in it," he said. "We just can't do this. Tactics need to change and are not acceptable when people's lives are hanging in the balance."
Allen said the DEA has not communicated with BCSO about the allegations since a whistleblower complaint became public. When given the opportunity, he said, he intends to seek answers from both the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"I can't sit here as sheriff and not have these hard questions for the former U.S. attorney (Alex Uballez) and the DEA because I have people on the task force who do these investigations," Allen said. "I want to know why this practice was employed and why it took a whistleblower to tell us about it."
While Allen said he does not know whether rising overdose deaths are directly tied to the DEA's handling of fentanyl investigations, he expressed concern that New Mexico may have been used to test enforcement strategies aimed at addressing the nation's drug crisis.
The statements from state and local leaders came as a national whistleblower organization petitioned the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General to investigate whether the practice extended beyond New Mexico.
Fairfax, Virginia-based nonprofit Empower Oversight represents David Howell, a DEA agent with 19 years of experience who filed a whistleblower complaint in 2023. Howell alleged he was reprimanded and removed from investigations after intervening to stop two suspected fentanyl shipments identified through wiretap monitoring in Albuquerque. Agents recovered a kilogram of cocaine from one vehicle and fentanyl from another.
Howell has argued that the risk of fentanyl reaching New Mexico communities was too great to justify allowing the shipments to proceed. He alleged the practice violated U.S. Department of Justice policy.
However, the Office of Special Counsel found his complaint unsubstantiated in September 2024, concluding that investigative teams appropriately exercised their discretion.
Keller's administration and local law enforcement agencies have faced criticism over the past eight years for failing to curb crime and addiction associated with fentanyl and other drugs.
"Albuquerque has carried the cost of this epidemic for too long," Keller said Wednesday. "Residents deserve justice because no community should be treated as collateral damage in the fight against fentanyl."
Nationally, drug overdose deaths declined 14.4% over the past year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New Mexico, however, saw overdose deaths increase 23% over the past year, marking the second consecutive year the state led the nation in overdose mortality.
Both Lujan Grisham and Allen said the potential results do not justify allowing illicit drugs to circulate in New Mexico communities.
"If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise," the governor said. "New Mexican lives are not the federal government's cost of doing business."
U.S. Interior’s reduced oil and gas bonding proposal draws rebuke from New Mexico conservationists - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
The U.S. Department of the Interior earlier this week announced a proposal that would dramatically reduce both the amount of money oil and gas operators need to guarantee for cleanup efforts and the amount of time members of the public have to comment on oil and gas leases.
The proposal would temporarily reduce the bonding amount from $500,000 to $25,000 while the Interior Department gathers “public input on a fair long-term approach” and would reduce public participation periods on oil and gas leases from 90 to 10 days.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a statement said the moves would “cut through the red tape that has historically deterred investment, ensuring our public lands remain a reliable engine for economic growth and innovation.”
Critics, though, say the changes would unfairly place cleanup costs on taxpayers in states like New Mexico that have high levels of oil and gas production. Bonding money typically is meant to clean up spills and other environmental hazards that stem from abandoned or orphaned wells.
“This is a giveaway to the oil and gas industry, plain and simple,” Mark Allison, executive director of the conservation nonprofit New Mexico Wild, wrote in a statement. “Weakening bonding requirements means that when these companies walk away, New Mexicans are left holding the bill. Similarly, cutting public comment periods to ten days effectively silences the ranchers, hunters, recreationists, and rural communities who depend on these lands.”
A group of environmental groups earlier this year sued the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and accused it of imperiling residents’ health by failing to address “thousands of unplugged, inactive oil and gas wells and unremediated extraction sites littered across the state.”
Just last month, the State Land Office held a multi-day hearing over proposed bonding changes that would significantly increase the amount of money oil and gas operators have to post for potential cleanup operations.
Operators are currently required to guarantee a minimum of $10,000 for a single lease. The proposal under consideration would increase that to $150,000, which Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard previously said would “ensure that the public doesn’t have to pick up the tab if a company goes belly up or isn’t willing to clean up properly.”
New Mexico wildfires force evacuations, threaten structures - Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
A wildfire near Jemez Springs forced evacuations and campground closures Wednesday morning as crews battled the blaze.
The McCauley Springs Fire, just north of Jemez Springs, grew to 150 acres after being discovered early Wednesday, according to a news release from Santa Fe National Forest spokeswoman Claudia Brookshire.
The Sierra de los Pinos community has been ordered to evacuate, and evacuation centers were set up at the Jemez Senior Center and the Jemez Mountain Baptist Church in nearby La Cueva.
The Jemez Falls and Redondo campgrounds were evacuated, and Battleship Campground and Trail No. 137 are closed, Brookshire said.
Highway 4 is closed between mile marker 27 and mile marker 40, she said. Los Alamos County, roughly 20 miles from the fire, remains in a “ready” status, meaning residents should pack their belongings and prepare for a potential evacuation.
“The fire is being fully suppressed and is demonstrating a high potential for spread,” Brookshire said. “Smoke is visible from Albuquerque, U.S. 550, Jemez Springs and surrounding communities.”
Three specialized wildland fire handcrews are responding, along with two helicopters and additional aerial resources, she said.
YMCA Camp Shaver evacuated all campers and staff members, families and guardians were asked to pick up their children at Jemez Valley High School on Wednesday afternoon.
“We understand this situation may be concerning,” the camp wrote in a social media post. “Please know that the safety and well-being of our campers and staff remains our highest priority.”
Hummingbird Music Camp is safe and not under evacuation orders, according to owner and director Sally Chapman. An estimated 120 people are at the camp, and Chapman said she is not yet concerned about the fire.
“We’re watching it and we have an evacuation plan ready to execute,” she said. “We have buses ready to come get us and right now we don’t feel like we are in danger so we’re not evacuating at this moment.”
In a message posted on the camp’s website, Chapman told families of current campers that the children’s safety was the utmost concern. She said campers have practiced evacuation procedures and families will be immediately contacted if an evacuation occurs.
Chapman told the Journal she could see plumes of smoke from the camp, along with aircraft flying toward the fire to help with suppression efforts. She said the fire appeared to be moving northeast, away from the camp.
Torrance County fire
While firefighters work to contain the McCauley Springs Fire, another fire that shut down an interstate remains a threat.
The Canyon Venado Fire, which sparked in Torrance County near Clines Corners just after noon Tuesday, was uncontained as of Wednesday morning. The blaze is an estimated 852 acres, according to a news release from New Mexico State Forestry Division spokesperson George Ducker.
Eastbound Interstate 40 has reopened, he said. The fire is burning grass and piñon-juniper.
On Tuesday, crews worked to drop retardant, and crews have reinforced boundaries to protect structures, Ducker said. Wind farms and other structures remain under threat.
“Today, crews are continuing to protect structures and buildings and securing fire lines, tying into wind farm roads,” he said. “Air resources will be utilized depending on fire activity throughout the day.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Ducker added.
Roswell anti-war group allowed to resume distributing food at plaza after lawsuit settlement - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
An anti-war group that distributes free food to Roswell residents can resume its bi-weekly giveaways at a centrally located plaza in Roswell as a result of a settlement agreement with city officials announced Wednesday.
The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty sued the City of Roswell in late April, alleging that the city violated Food Not Bombs Roswell’s free speech rights when it prohibited the group from distributing food at Pioneer Plaza, which sits in front of city government buildings, late last year.
The group has not distributed food at the plaza since November, after city officials told the group that it would need a permit and insurance to continue doing so.
The Center on Law and Poverty argued that the ordinance that governs the permitting process for vendors and events is unconstitutional and overly broad. It further alleged that the city unfairly restricted Food Not Bombs while allowing other groups to distribute free food without permits.
The lawsuit says the group’s distributions amount to “expressive food sharing” protected by the state Constitution, because the group has an explicit anti-war political message.
City officials did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Wednesday regarding the settlement. The city also did not respond in court to the lawsuit, according to court filings, which show the case was dismissed June 18.
Before being forced to relocate, the group provided food to up to 150 people, many of them unhoused. Group members moved the distribution to a church far from public transportation, founding member Jocelyn Smith previously told Source NM, where they could serve only about 30 people at a time.
As part of the settlement the Center on Law and Poverty announced Wednesday, Roswell officials agreed to designate Pioneer Plaza a “traditional public forum,” which carries strong free speech and assembly protections, and allow Food Not Bombs Roswell to resume distributing food there without a permit.
“Food sharing is both an essential form of community support and a form of free speech protected by the Constitution,” Marco Alarid White, a lawyer for the center, said in a statement. “Food Not Bombs Roswell is putting its beliefs into action and building a future where hunger no longer exists by ensuring that food is accessible to everyone in their community.”
State GOP officer Kim Skaggs charged after fatal crash - Algernon D’Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
Former legislative candidate and current state Republican Party Treasurer Kimberly Skaggs has been charged with fatally striking a bicyclist with her car and leaving the scene of a crash near Las Cruces.
Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday, according to jail records, on fourth-degree felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death and tampering with evidence.
Doña Ana County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a hit-and-run crash Monday afternoon in the Fairacres community just west of Las Cruces, according to charging documents. A witness informed detectives she had observed and photographed a woman leaving the scene in a Cadillac Escalade.
The crash victim, a 40-year-old man, had been struck and severely injured while crossing the roadway, by a vehicle traveling north on Fairacres Road. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators gathered debris from the vehicle and measured 208 feet of skid marks, according to a deputy’s affidavit. Images from police surveillance cameras as well as a local business helped detectives identify the vehicle, which was subsequently linked to Skaggs and a previous traffic citation, last September, for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Deputies tracked the vehicle to a property owned by Skaggs a few miles away from the crash scene, and executed a search warrant for the vehicle on Tuesday. At the scene, deputies reported finding damage to the front of the vehicle, tread marks on the front bumper consistent with a bicycle tire and a flat front tire with traces of bicycle tire sealant and blood near the wheel well, the affidavit stated.
The basis of the evidence-tampering charge was not clear from the charging document.
Skaggs is a former chair of the Doña Ana County Republican Party who has run for the state Legislature three times since 2020, when she challenged state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces.
In 2022 and 2024, she ran for the state House seat represented by Democrat Nathan Small.
She has also served as the state GOP’s former executive director and is currently the party’s treasurer. Skaggs is also on the governing board of the Alma d’Arte Charter High School in Las Cruces.
Skaggs’ name and photo were removed from the party’s web page listing its officers sometime around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Late Wednesday night, Skaggs remained in custody at the Doña Ana County Detention Center and did not have legal representation. An appearance in county magistrate court did not appear to have been scheduled.
This story will be updated.