{"id":323397,"date":"2026-06-05T01:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T01:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/323397\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T01:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T01:53:17","slug":"el-paso-dea-agent-discusses-labs-role-in-nm-case-that-left-3-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/323397\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso DEA agent discusses lab\u2019s role in NM case that left 3 dead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">EL PASO, Texas (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:KTSM;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;KTSM&quot;}\" class=\"link \">KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 A federal agent who oversees a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration laboratory involved in the investigation of a deadly New Mexico incident, where opioid exposure inside a home claimed three lives, is speaking about the lab\u2019s role in the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">DEA El Paso Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Castillo joins KTSM\u2019s Andy Morgan to discuss the growing threat of illicit fentanyl, how it continues to impact communities across the Borderland, and the challenges law enforcement faces as the drug becomes increasingly prevalent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Three people died and nearly two dozen first responders were hospitalized after exposure to an opioid substance at a home in Mountainair, according to a report by KTSM\u2019s sister station, KRQE.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/news\/new-mexico-state-police-to-provide-update-on-mountainair-hazmat-investigation\/?ipid=promo-link-block1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Illicit drug exposure tied to Mountainair incident that killed 3;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Illicit drug exposure tied to Mountainair incident that killed 3&quot;}\"> Illicit drug exposure tied to Mountainair incident that killed 3 <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to the report, laboratory analysis \u2014 done by the El Paso DEA\u2019s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team \u2014 confirmed the presence of fentanyl, methamphetamine and another form of fentanyl called P-4.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.&quot;}\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 A federal agent who oversees a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration laboratory involved in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[17098,21472,138,140,139,115637,498,27],"class_list":["post-323397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-andy-morgan","tag-drug-enforcement-administration","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-jeffrey-castillo","tag-ktsm","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}