Fentanyl investigations and seizures dropped during Trump’s immigration crackdown, federal watchdog says

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security’s decision last year to pull additional federal agents for immigration enforcement resulted in a dramatic drop in fentanyl investigations and seizures by the department’s investigations division, according to a federal watchdog report.

The sudden change in approach toward ongoing fentanyl-related efforts stemmed from President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown, which required federal agents across the government to be pulled in for immigration arrests. That included agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the body charged with combatting cartels and criminal organizations.

Under tremendous pressure to meet White House-imposed quotas, HSI pivoted much of its work in fiscal year 2025 to immigration arrests, pulling it away from some of its ongoing work into fentanyl. One office reported that around “99 percent” of its work was dedicated to immigration, leaving almost no room for fentanyl investigations, according to the DHS inspector general report released last week.

“In FY 2025, Department priorities shifted toward immigration enforcement. Accordingly, HSI prioritized immigration enforcement over fentanyl-related criminal investigations,” the report found.

The report reviewed HSI’s role in disrupting the supply of fentanyl, ranging from the agency’s technologies, coordination with other federal agencies, and shifting priorities. The audit was conducted from March 2025 through May 2026.

Between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, agents had increasingly dedicated time to fentanyl investigations, but in fiscal year 2025, the hours spent on those investigations declined by around 31% compared to the previous fiscal year, the report found.

“At the same time, immigration enforcement saw the largest increase across all investigative categories, rising more than 1.7 million hours (over 800 percent),” the report continued.

That also led to a reduction in fentanyl investigations and seizures. In fiscal year 2025, the number of investigations initiated by HSI dropped by 24% compared to the previous year. At one field office, the number of investigations initiated declined from 30 to 13 from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025, according to the report.

“HSI’s fentanyl seizures also decreased by 39 percent in FY 2025 despite the DEA reporting several record-breaking fentanyl seizures in 2025,” the report said.

In a statement to CNN, a Homeland Security spokesperson said HSI “is working closely with the Department to track metrics and execute goals to assess how well ICE-HSI is combating fentanyl. In FY26, an action plan was launched as an Agency Priority Goal, which set key milestones for combating fentanyl.”

Agents across HSI offices nationwide reported an all-hands approach to the administration’s immigration push in interviews with the inspector general’s office. For example, one drug investigation team of seven agents was reduced to “two to three” because people were reassigned to immigration cases, the report states.

The audit identified other issues that hamstrung HSI’s efforts to combat fentanyl, including technical limitations, lack of necessary funds, and inconsistent referrals from other federal agencies, like US Customs and Border Protection.

The inspector general shared four recommendations with ICE, which concurred with all of them. That included conducting a review of staffing levels “to ensure an appropriate level of coverage commensurate with the relative priority of fentanyl investigations.” ICE HSI agreed to review staffing and determine next steps, setting an estimated completion date of June 30, 2027.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Michael Williams and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.