Fentanyl seizures fell 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm toward immigration enforcement, according to a watchdog report published Friday.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE, described an “all hands-on deck” focus on immigration enforcement that began in January 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report.
“With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said.
The report found that hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations in fiscal 2025 fell by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared with fiscal 2024.
“At the same time, immigration enforcement saw the largest increase across all investigative categories, rising more than 1.7 million hours (over 800 percent),” according to the report.
Inspectors interviewed more than 100 agents from 11 Homeland Security Investigations field offices.
At one office, about 99% of work was dedicated to immigration, leaving almost no capacity for fentanyl investigations, the watchdog found. A seven-agent drug investigation team was reduced to about three agents, and the remaining personnel were reassigned to immigration cases, according to the report.
Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid and the main driver of overdose deaths in the United States. Homeland Security Investigations plays a key role in countering fentanyl smuggling by targeting routes and laboratories and working with other law enforcement agencies to investigate smuggling operations.
The inspector general recommended that Homeland Security Investigations review staffing levels “to ensure an appropriate level of coverage commensurate with the relative priority of fentanyl investigations.”
Inspector general reports are presented to the affected agency for comment before publication. ICE agreed with the report’s recommendations.
“Homeland Security Investigations will review staffing levels, and determine and implement next steps, as needed, to ensure an appropriate level of coverage commensurate with the relative priority of fentanyl investigations,” ICE’s comments in the report read.
ICE estimated that the recommendation would be completed by June 2027.
The report also found that technology used by Homeland Security Investigations agents and analysts had limitations during fentanyl investigations.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: scrane@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and Twitter.