ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Tuesday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the New Mexico National Guard will be deployed starting mid-may to support the Albuquerque Police Department. One of the reasons city leaders requested this support is to deal with the fentanyl crisis on our streets.

The plan is for the National Guard to respond to these overdoses and other medical emergencies so APD officers don’t have to and can handle other calls and crimes. 

But law enforcement, firefighters and non-profit workers say fentanyl isn’t the only drug in this crisis. Other opioids like heroin and meth and narcotics like cocaine are contributing to the drug problem in the metro.

Both Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen and Albuquerque Fire Rescue Chief Emily Jaramillo. They acknowledge fentanyl and addiction overall is fueling a lot of the problems we’re seeing in the metro.

“Addiction is not an overnight problem to solve. It takes a while, and the problem is somebody that’s an addict will do anything to feed their addiction, whether it’s crime, whether it’s something else, to get their next fix,” Sheriff John Allen said.

“The most visual way that we see it affecting our community is like up and down Central Avenue. A lot of our residents that are experiencing homelessness are they’re addicted to fentanyl. They’re addicted to different versions of opioids, heroin, you name it,” Chief Emily Jaramillo said.

In fact, people KOB4 spoke to Tuesday say it’s not difficult to see the drug crisis practically anywhere you look in Albuquerque.

“Even just drug use on the streets, it’s so public, you can just drive down the streets and see someone shooting up and even that just has to be contained,” Mariana Perez said.

“My mom’s a public defender, a lot of her clients are people who are on drugs so once people get desperate enough they turn to crime to get what they need,” Caleb Smalls said.

The latest data from the New Mexico Department of Health release January 2025 compares data from 2022 to 2023. It showed 65 percent of the overdose deaths in New Mexico were due to fentanyl.

First responders say Narcan, a medication that can reverse an overdose, is helping. But Sheriff Allen says something else is making a major difference recently: Operation Route 66. It just began 7 weeks ago. It focuses on Central, another reason Governor Lujan Grisham and APD Chief Harold Medina say the National Guard is coming in.

Sheriff Allen says the task force has made nearly 400 arrests and took close to 2,700 fentanyl pills and 27 stolen cars off the street. Because of that success, he doesn’t think the national guard is necessary.

“I will accept and collaborate with anybody that helps with crime, period. But our deputies and the New Mexico State Police, probation and parole, the DAs office, we’ve had close to 400 arrests, and we’re getting fentanyl off the streets. I know that we’re making a difference in the community,” Allen said.

While the national guard will respond to drug overdoses and help our homeless population, non-profit workers say that won’t necessarily break the cycle. They say things like more treatment facilities and resources would—which are not included in this deployment plan.

The ACLU of New Mexico agrees. In a statement they denounced the move, saying in part they want to see the governor instead put resources towards solutions rather than “criminalizing the most vulnerable among us.”

ACLU of New Mexico policy advocate Daniel Williams sent the following statement: 

“All of us deserve to be safe at home, at work, and in our community. We, like so many in Albuquerque, know that that’s not always the case in our city. However, Governor Lujan Grisham’s deployment of the National Guard to support Albuquerque police is a show of force, not a show of solutions. New Mexico already has one of the highest per capita rates of people killed by police in the nation. History has shown that military collaboration with local law enforcement often leads to increased civil rights violations, racial profiling, and criminalization of vulnerable populations, particularly those experiencing homelessness and poverty.

“The governor’s past policy proposals too often have centered on efforts to criminalize and institutionalize unhoused New Mexicans, without a commensurate emphasis on solving the root causes of crime. New Mexicans should be confident that their governor is truly working to keep them safe, not doubling down on failed strategies that will fuel mass incarceration and multiply the harms our communities already endure. In a state so heavily impacted by police violence, the answer to safety cannot and will not be found in increased police presence, especially not through collaboration with the military.

“Our neighbors deserve an urgent outpouring of services and support by those trained and equipped to properly provide it. All of us will be safer when all of us are housed. All of us will be safer when all of us have access to good healthcare. All of us will be safer when all of us are economically secure. We join our partners and New Mexicans across the state in asking the governor and all of our leaders to double down on putting resources toward these meaningful solutions, rather than continuing to criminalize the most vulnerable among us.”