“Our investigation found that there were a constellation of companies that added fuel to this fire and turned it into an inferno,” says Higham.
The companies targetted by Rannazzisi and the DEA banded together to fight back. They went after the DEA in court, and when that failed, turned their attention to Congress, working to pass bills that would defang the DEA.sponsor a bill that impacted the DEA’s work“[The bill] weakened them and it took away some of their tools to go after the industry,” says Horwitz.
“It was only then that members of Congress stood up and said, ‘Whoa, we didn't know what was in that bill,’” Horwitz says. “Sen. [Joe] Manchin, for example … said, ‘Well, they pulled the wool over our eyes. We didn't realize what was in that bill.’” Higham also spoke with drug agents on the southern border who are growing increasingly upset at the pace drugs like fentanyl are arriving at the ports of entry. “They're very upset because they feel as though this could have been completely preventable,” he says.