U.S. and United Nations drug data, however, show that Venezuela isn't a producer or exporter of fentanyl, a lab-made synthetic opioid, and that it plays a relatively minor role in the far-less-lethal cocaine trade.

Venezuela does not produce fentanyl
“Every boat kills 25,000 on average − some people say more," Trump told U.S. military generals in September. "You see these boats, they’re stacked up with bags of white powder that’s mostly fentanyl and other drugs, too.”

But Mexico is the primary − and virtually only − mass producer and exporter of fentanyl, with Chinese peddlers sending small amounts by mail, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and U.S. counternarcotics organizations.

The opioid, 50 times more powerful than heroin, is almost entirely made with precursor chemicals that originate in China and are used by Mexican drug cartel chemists to make various pills, powders and other products intended for the U.S. market.