A White House social media post misleadingly links deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro with the US fentanyl crisis.The X post includes a video highlighting parents who lost children to fentanyl overdoses thanking President Donald Trump for capturing Maduro.“Angel Families thank President Trump for saving lives & capturing Maduro – the kingpin flooding America with deadly fentanyl,” the White House’s January 5 X post said. “Justice is being served.”US troops abducted Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their Caracas home in the early hours of January 3. The two pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges on January 5 in New York federal court.The White House post isn’t the first time the Trump administration has blamed Maduro for trafficking fentanyl to the US. Trump has cited the potent synthetic opioid that is responsible for most US drug overdose deaths to justify pressure on Venezuela in the months before Maduro’s capture.But neither Venezuela nor Maduro plays a role in smuggling fentanyl to the US. The majority of US fentanyl comes from Mexico and is made with chemicals from China, according to US government reports and drug policy experts.The White House did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment.Vice President JD Vance addressed fentanyl in a January 4 X post, the day before the White House’s post, saying cocaine is “the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela,” and, “Yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and …
