According to the federal investigators, Homeland Security Investigations' level of effort on fentanyl investigations decreased between fiscal years 2024 and 2025 as resources were redirected to immigration enforcement.
The report found fentanyl investigations fell by 24%, while investigative hours devoted to countering fentanyl declined by 30%. Fentanyl seizures also dropped by 39%.
The findings come after fentanyl was designated a weapon of mass destruction by President Donald Trump last year.
"The statistics are quite frankly shocking," former Homeland Security Acting Undersecretary for Intelligence and ABC News contributor John Cohen told the I-Team.
Cohen said the shift in priorities reflects the consequences of allocating finite federal law enforcement resources to different missions.
"What we are seeing is that Homeland Security investigations have diverted personnel away from conducting human trafficking investigations, narcotics investigations, gang investigations, so they can increase the amount of hours that they work on civil immigration enforcement," Cohen said.
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The inspector general report highlighted a key finding that competing mission priorities led to a significant decrease in HSI investigative hours. The report included a chart showing immigration investigations increased sharply over the past two fiscal years while fentanyl investigations declined.
The decrease in investigative activity corresponded with a nearly 40% reduction in HSI fentanyl seizures, according to the report.
Cohen said the trend raises concerns at a time when law enforcement agencies are confronting evolving threats.
"This is not the time to be taking resources away from drug gang enforcement from terrorism investigations because we're dealing with terrorists and traffickers that are only becoming more sophisticated and better able to to transit drugs and other potential harmful substances into the United States," he said.
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The impact of competing priorities is not limited to Homeland Security Investigations. As previously reported by the I-Team, Joint Terrorism Task Force assets in Chicago were used to support immigration arrests. FBI Chicago told the I-Team last year that the work had not affected its goal of preventing terrorism.
Cohen said other federal agencies also have been affected.
"DEA, FBI, Marshal Service, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, even the United States Coast Guard are taking critical law enforcement resources away from interdicting drugs, investigating gangs, preventing violent crime, so they can engage in civil immigration enforcement," he said.
The decline in fentanyl seizures by Customs and Border Protection was even greater over the same period, according to the report. CBP fentanyl seizures fell 45% from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025.
ICE agreed with all recommendations in the inspector general's report, including reviewing staffing levels and redirecting agents to fentanyl investigations as needed.
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