Fentanyl is a recurring theme in the US-Venezuela narrative, but critics say the dots don't connect

GOP Congressman Andy Barr wrote in the aftermath of the surprise military operation: "For states like Kentucky, this threat is not abstract—narco-terrorism has fueled a deadly flood of drugs that has taken thousands of innocent lives and devastated families across the Commonwealth."

Kentucky's top cop, Attorney General Russell Coleman, issued a similar statement, directly tying the action to cutting off the flow of fentanyl.

But the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and U.S. counternarcotics organizations say Mexico is the primary producer and exporter of fentanyl, with Chinese sellers delivering some by mail.

Following the weekend strike, Kentucky GOP Congressman Thomas Massie reposted a video of a floor speech, where he blasted the idea that drugs were at the root of the conflict.

"If it were about drugs, we'd bomb Mexico or China or Colombia and the president would not have pardoned (former Honduran president and convicted drug trafficking conspirator) Juan Orlando Hernandez," Massie said. "This is about oil and regime change."

Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey told WAVE3-TV he doesn't see drugs at the center of the discussion.

"There's no debate in Congress about the fact that we don't want drugs coming to this country," the Louisville representative said. "The debate is whether the president has the power to do this, whether the president is actually engaging in foreign policy that is actually going to be better for Americans."

Like Massie, McGarvey pointed to oil — an issue the president singled out repeatedly in a press conference Saturday — as the key variable in the Venezuela strike.

Despite months of lobbing increasingly sharp barbs at the Trump administration over its "extrajudicial" boat strikes and military buildup in the Caribbean, and a career of railing against costly foreign entanglements, Sen. Rand Paul took a "time will tell" approach after the action inside Venezuela. In an online essay, the senator shifted his critiques toward socialism and Venezuela's government — adding a brief warning about military actions taken without congressional approval.

Paul had been highly critical of the fentanyl argument, telling Bloomberg in December that "there's no evidence that any fentanyl comes from Venezuela."

Meanwhile, overdose deaths have been declining in Kentucky for the last three years. Fentanyl, however, continues to be a leading cause, with the powerful synthetic opioid present in more than 62% of overdose cases in 2024.