What percent of drugs come from Venezuela to the US
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Executive summary
Available U.S. and international reporting indicates that Venezuela is a transit country for some cocaine but accounts for only a small share of drugs directly entering the United States, with most U.S.-bound cocaine and virtually all fentanyl traced to routes through Colombia and Mexico respectively; estimates vary by year and drug type and data are incomplete [1] [2] [3].
1. Venezuela’s role is primarily transit, not majority supplier
Multiple recent analyses conclude Venezuela functions mainly as a transit or secondary route rather than the principal origin of drugs reaching the U.S.; UNODC and U.S. assessments say the main cocaine flows to North America originate in Andean states (chiefly Colombia), and the DEA’s assessments identify Mexican cartels — using precursors from China — as the principal source of fentanyl affecting the United States [2] [4] [3].
2. Quantitative snapshots: small but non‑negligible cocaine volumes pass through Venezuela
U.S. government reporting has, at different times, estimated hundreds of metric tons of cocaine moving through Venezuelan territory — for example, a March 2025 State Department estimate cited 200–250 metric tons trafficked through Venezuela annually — yet those flows are still measured as only a fraction of the total hemisphere output dominated by Colombia [5] [2].
3. Route breakdowns show most cocaine to the U.S. avoids the Caribbean path from Venezuela
Analyses of trafficking vectors find the bulk of cocaine destined for the United States travels in the Eastern Pacific vector and through Mexico; a DEA- and UNODC-backed breakdown estimated about 74% of cocaine reaching the U.S. came via the Pacific, while just a single-digit share moved on fast boats from Caribbean islands — the corridor most associated with Venezuela — suggesting Venezuelan-origin trans‑shipments to the U.S. are limited [6] [5].
4. Fentanyl: Venezuela is not identified as a primary source for the U.S. crisis
Authoritative U.S. assessments and reporting note that fentanyl reaching the U.S. is produced and transported primarily via Mexico using precursor chemicals sourced from overseas, and Venezuela is not listed as an origin country for fentanyl in the DEA’s 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment [4] [3]. A New York Times analysis likewise found no proof fentanyl is manufactured or trafficked from Venezuela or anywhere else in South America [5].
5. Historical and regional context complicates percentage claims
Longstanding U.S. law‑enforcement reporting has labeled Venezuela a “major transit route” in certain periods, particularly given porous borders with Colombia and coastal routes, but those historical characterizations do not equate to a fixed percentage of U.S‑bound drugs; older estimates suggested Venezuela and the Caribbean together accounted for roughly 10% of U.S.-destined cocaine trans‑shipments in the 2010s, while Colombia accounted for the vast majority [1] [7]. At the same time, counternarcotics experts and reporting point out that detection, interdiction, and intelligence coverage differ across routes and years, making precise, stable percentage figures elusive [8] [7].
6. Data limits, politics, and the practical answer
Public sources reveal two consistent facts: Venezuela is a transit point for some cocaine flows and it is not identified as a major source of fentanyl to the U.S. [2] [3]. Exact percentage shares depend on the drug (cocaine versus synthetic opioids), the year, and the method of measurement; contemporary reporting summarized here places Venezuela’s direct contribution to U.S. drug supply as a “sliver” compared with routes through Colombia and Mexico — historically on the order of single‑digit percentages of U.S.-bound cocaine trans‑shipments — but precise, up‑to‑date percentage figures are not stable across sources and years [8] [1] [6]. Where official data are sparse or politically charged, public reporting often mixes transit estimates, seizure data, and political claims; those differences matter when translating “through Venezuela” into a simple percent of drugs arriving in the United States [5] [9].