Attorney General Mayes Demands Answers from Department of Homeland Security for Endangering Lives by Gutting Fentanyl Investigations

PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes today blasted the Department of Homeland Security for endangering the lives of Arizonans after its own Office of Inspector General found that the administration's mass deportation campaign gutted federal fentanyl investigations. The August 20, 2026 OIG report (OIG-26-23) found a 31% drop in the hours Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents spent on fentanyl criminal investigations. Immigration enforcement hours at the same agency rose more than 800%. Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, immigration hours jumped from roughly 207,000 to nearly 2 million, while fentanyl hours fell from about 824,000 to under 570,000. Shockingly, at one HSI office, agents spent 99% of their time on immigration, "leaving almost no capacity for fentanyl investigations." "The Trump administration calls fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction but has pulled its agents and investigators who are supposed to be dismantling drug rings off their cases to chase landscapers and maids around our cities,” said Attorney General Mayes. “This is a massive betrayal of every family that has buried a loved one after a fentanyl overdose. The Arizona Attorney General’s Offic...