State health and law enforcement officials brief senators on fentanyl, rising polysubstance overdoses and local trafficking trends

New Mexico Department of Health and Albuquerque Police Department officials told the Senate Judiciary Committee that illicitly manufactured fentanyl remains the main driver of recent overdose deaths in the state and that most fatal overdoses now involve more than one drug.

"In 2023, approximately 3 New Mexican residents died from a drug overdose every day," Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Miranda DeJaram said during a presentation to the committee. DeJaram and other presenters summarized data showing a sharp increase in synthetic-opioid deaths after 2019 and emphasized that polysubstance use complicates treatment and emergency response.

Why it matters: Committee members said the data help explain pressure on emergency rooms, public safety resources and rural communities. The presenters described public-health actions already in use and gaps that lawmakers may consider: naloxone distribution, harm-reduction programs, real-time adulterant monitoring and expanded access to evidence-based medications for opioid use disorder.

What the officials said and showed - The Department of Health presented rolling 12-month totals showing an increase in overdose mortality beginning in 2019 that tracked the growing presence of illicit fentanyl in the drug supply. The department said the shaded portion of recent charts reflects provisional data that could change. - Josh Swiatek, the department’s policy manager and former harm-reduction program manager, said about two nonfatal overdose emergency-room visits occurred for every overdose death. He noted that 65% of overdose deaths in 2023 involved more than one substance and that fentanyl involvement rose from a small share in 2019 to about 65% of overdoses by 2023. - The department highlighted harm-reduction and treatment strategies it credits with improving outcomes: wider naloxone availability, provider education, prescription-monitoring, adulterant-checking in harm‑reduction sites, and expanded access to medications for opioid use disorder. - Swiatek gave program details: state harm-reduction distribution reported roughly 3,000 documented naloxone overdose reversals in the most recent year the program summarized. - DeJaram explained basic pharmacology and clinical risk: illicit fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that can produce rapid high and severe withdrawal. She also described differences between depressant opioid overdoses (slowed breathing) and stimulant overdose risks (stroke, heart attack, psychosis). - Albuquerque Police Department Commander Jeff Bernard, who oversees investigative and gang narcotics units and serves as the regional HIDTA (high-intensity drug trafficking area) commander, reported law-enforcement seizure data for 2024: preliminary internal reporting indicated more than 3,000,000 pills seized and 22 kilos of fentanyl powder, and the crime lab logged multiple incidents with at least 5,000 fentanyl pills tagged in evidence.

Law-enforcement observations and trafficking trends Bernard described how trafficking has diversified in scale and method: a mix of lower‑level sellers, unsheltered people selling small quantities to support a habit, social-media facilitation of transactions, and larger cartel-linked shipments. He said dealers sometimes produce multicolored pills to appeal to youth. On supply routes, officials said large shipments often move through Arizona and Texas before arriving in New Mexico.

Data points cited in the briefing and Q&A - Overdose deaths (2023): about three per day statewide (not limited to fentanyl-only deaths). - Polysubstance: about 65% of overdose deaths in 2023 involved more than one substance. - Fentanyl involvement: about 65% of overdoses by 2023 compared with a small share in 2019. - Seizures (preliminary 2024 reporting to HIDTA by some law-enforcement units): more than 3,000,000 pills and 22 kilograms of fentanyl powder; multiple incidents with at least 5,000 pills tagged into evidence. - Forensic dosage range described in committee discussion (county DA study cited by commander): fentanyl pills tested in some cases ranged from about 0.04 mg to 5.2 mg; a single pill dose near 0.2 mg was described in testimony as approaching lethal levels depending on individual tolerance and other substances present. - Retail pill pricing discussed in committee Q&A: about $3–$4 per pill in small quantities and as low as about $0.75 per pill at wholesale levels, according to commander testimony.

What the presenters said was helping The department credited multiple activities with reducing deaths from a hypothetical higher peak: naloxone distribution and public education, harm-reduction sites that provide engagement points and testing for adulterants, provider education and prescription monitoring, and expanded treatment access including medications for opioid use disorder (methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone). The department noted that medications alone are evidence-based for opioid use disorder and reduce mortality and other harms; stimulant-use treatment options remain primarily behavioral and psychosocial.

Outstanding questions and committee concerns Committee members pressed on topics including whether data include Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service facilities (the department said those sources were not included in the dataset cited and that it would follow up), geographic disparities (some tribal communities and rural counties have very high local rates), and capacity for treatment in rural areas. Lawmakers also asked about source countries and precursors; presenters said most fentanyl precursors flowed through Mexico after earlier shipments from overseas and that manufacturing in Mexico had increased, though precise supply‑chain dynamics are complex.

Bottom line Department of Health officials told the committee fentanyl is now the dominant drug in many overdose deaths, often mixed with methamphetamine or sedatives, and that state public-health work (naloxone, harm reduction, monitoring and treatment expansion) is intended to reduce mortality while law enforcement targets trafficking networks. Lawmakers continued to press for coordinated funding and policy steps to expand treatment access, maintain naloxone distribution, and target high-risk trafficking and youth exposures.

Sources and attributions: quotes and data in this article come from testimony by Miranda DeJaram (chief medical officer, New Mexico Department of Health), Josh Swiatek (policy manager, New Mexico Department of Health), and Commander Jeff Bernard (Investigative Services Division, Albuquerque Police Department; HIDTA Region 1 commander).