SIERRA COUNTY, New Mexico — A KRQE News 13 investigation has revealed a disturbing pattern of welfare benefits being traded directly for fentanyl in rural New Mexico, raising new questions about the state’s ability to safeguard taxpayer-funded nutrition programs from criminal misuse.
According to the investigation, Sierra County deputies uncovered that government-issued SNAP benefits — intended to buy food for families — were being used as currency in the local drug market. Sheriff Joshua Baker said the case began after the overdose death of a 26-year-old father earlier this summer, a tragedy that led investigators to a home outside Truth or Consequences.
What deputies found, they say, was a clear example of how fentanyl dealers exploit families and government systems with little fear of consequences.
Inside the home, 63-year-old John Charles Armstrong admitted to selling fentanyl pills, claiming he supplied people who were “sick” from withdrawal. Text messages recovered from his phone show he exchanged fentanyl for SNAP benefits — including one deal where a father of two, Robert Iverson, traded $700 of his family’s food stamps for 50 fentanyl pills. Deputies later tracked the stolen EBT card to local stores, where Armstrong used the benefits to buy groceries for himself, KRQE reported.
“This is happening far more often than we can prove in court,” Sheriff Baker told KRQE, noting that dealers typically charge double or triple the cash price when accepting EBT benefits because using the card is more inconvenient and more difficult to trace.
Iverson was arrested for unlawful dealing in federal food coupons, a misdemeanor. Armstrong was charged with two felony counts of drug trafficking. Iverson has since been convicted and sentenced to probation.
A System Easily Exploited
While the case highlights flagrant abuse, state officials stressed that SNAP fraud remains statistically rare. Niki Kozlowski, Income Support Director for the New Mexico Health Care Authority, told KRQE that customer fraud accounts for less than 1% of cases, with most fraud committed at the retail level. She acknowledged, however, that the program’s loose structure — including the lack of ID requirements and the ability to hand EBT cards to anyone — creates opportunities for exploitation.
“We would never want SNAP benefits to be used this way,” Kozlowski said, while defending current guardrails as “working,” though not perfect.
Sheriff Baker disagrees. Because trading food stamps for drugs is only a misdemeanor, he says the penalty is not strong enough to act as any real deterrent. “There’s not many sanctions,” he told KRQE. “Unless it becomes a felony, our hands are tied.”
Lawmakers Add SNAP Oversight Audit to HB 1 Amid Special Session and Reopening of Federal Government
The KRQE investigation landed just as lawmakers met in a special session on Monday to pass House Bill 1 (HB 1), the emergency spending measure designed to secure continued nutrition benefits while federal funding was stalled. During intense debate, several Republican lawmakers dissented — arguing that the amendment didn’t go far enough to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in programs such as SNAP.
Despite the dissent, HB 1 passed with the new clause intact: a formal audit and review of SNAP administration. The amendment mandates that the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), in conjunction with the New Mexico Health Care Authority, use an internal appropriation to evaluate how SNAP benefits are issued, monitored, and protected. Preliminary findings are due by January 20, 2026, and the final report by July 1, 2026.
The timing is striking: just days after the federal government reopened following the longest shutdown in U.S. history, the KRQE investigation detailed the very abuses lawmakers feared could occur while funding systems were disrupted. The reopening of the federal government restores programs like SNAP — making New Mexico’s internal review all the more urgent.
Human Cost and Public Cost
New Mexico provides SNAP benefits to roughly 460,000 residents — about 21% of the state’s population. The KRQE investigation illustrates how addiction and poverty collide to create a secondary black market where families desperate for drugs sacrifice the very benefits meant to keep their children fed.
Deputies noted that Iverson, who traded away his family’s food assistance, has two children at home.
For Baker, the stakes could not be higher. He told KRQE that in cases where a dealer can be linked directly to an overdose death, his department will pursue the most severe penalties available under state law, including capital punishment.
A Window Into a Bigger Problem
The KRQE investigation underscores a growing concern among rural law-enforcement agencies: fentanyl is cheap, widespread, and increasingly financed with public assistance intended for vulnerable families.
While state officials argue the system is functioning as designed, local deputies say the law has not caught up to the reality of how SNAP benefits are trafficked in drug markets.
As Baker put it: unless New Mexico strengthens penalties and gives law enforcement more tools, the system will continue to be exploited — while families and communities continue to pay the price.
