Overview
- After Nicolás Maduro’s capture, the Justice Department filed a 25-page indictment accusing him of cocaine trafficking and terrorism, with no mention of fentanyl.
- A December Government Accountability Office report concluded Mexican cartels control most illicit drug flows into the U.S. and that Chinese companies supply key precursor chemicals.
- Drug Enforcement Administration threat assessments do not list Venezuela as a source or transit point for fentanyl, and experts say its role in U.S. overdoses is minimal.
- Available data show Venezuela accounts for about 3.6% of regional cocaine seizures, and much of the cocaine moving through the country is routed to Europe rather than the U.S.
- U.S. airstrikes on alleged Caribbean drug boats last fall were later described to lawmakers as yielding no fentanyl, even as officials cite Venezuela’s narcotics threat and critics question potential motives, including access to oil.