# The fentanyl-from-cocaine claim > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The fentanyl-from-cocaine claim," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-fentanyl-from-cocaine-claim/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The assertion that seventy per cent of American overdoses trace to fentanyl processed from Venezuelan cocaine, which John Kiriakou refuted on air by reading the DEA's own fact sheet — fentanyl is not made from cocaine, it is mixed into it, along with almost everything else on the market.* - **The official claim:** 70% of American overdoses are attributable to fentanyl processed from cocaine originating in Venezuela - **Kiriakou''s verdict:** 'That''s just not how it works… That''s just simply not true' - **What the DEA fact sheet says:** Fentanyl is not made from cocaine - **What is actually done:** It is mixed with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and everything else; it can be put in a nasal spray - **The border figure:** 42% of pills confiscated at the border contain at least 2mg of fentanyl — a lethal dose - **Why the claim persists:** 'They''re counting on people not really knowing about this' **The fentanyl-from-cocaine claim** is the justification [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says the Trump administration offered for [the boat strikes in the Caribbean](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/venezuela-boat-strikes), and which he checked live on air in October 2025. ## The claim As Kiriakou states it, the administration was asking the public *"to believe something that we know isn't true and can't be true. They say that 70% of overdoses in the United States are directly attributable to fentanyl that is processed from cocaine that originates in Venezuela."* His answer: *"that's just not how it works… That's just simply not true."* He attributes its survival to ignorance rather than persuasion — *"they're counting on people not really knowing about this."*[1][2] ## The fact sheet Rather than leave it as an assertion, he pulled the source up while the conversation continued. *"I'm looking at the DEA's fact sheet on fentanyl right here, and fentanyl is not made from cocaine."*[3] The relationship between the two drugs runs the other way: fentanyl *"is mixed with cocaine and with every other drug that's out there. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine — it's mixed with everything."* It can also be put into a nasal spray.[3] The figure he read out concerned pills rather than powder: *"42% of all pills tested for fentanyl contained at least 2mg of fentanyl, which is considered to be a lethal dose."*[3][4] ## What the adulteration is not Both hosts rejected the idea that the mixing serves consumer demand, reaching back to the spiking of drugs with PCP in the 1980s. In Kiriakou's exchange with the host the conclusion is that this is a failure of the market rather than a feature of it — *"drug users want to know what they're getting… just like any other consumers."*[4][5] Kiriakou closed the subject with a death in his own family. His brother-in-law died of a fentanyl overdose at 36: *"he didn't mean to. He thought he was just going to smoke some meth like he smoked every day, and 15 minutes later he was dead."* His verdict: *"I hate drugs."*[5][6] ## See also - [Venezuela Boat Strikes](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/venezuela-boat-strikes) - [Fentanyl and China](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fentanyl-and-china) - [Fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fentanyl-as-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction) - [The Colombian air bridge through Venezuela](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-colombian-air-bridge-through-venezuela) - [Narcotics under cover](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/narcotics-under-cover) ## Sources 1. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 30:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1841s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/ 2. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 31:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1871s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/ 3. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 32:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1933s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/ 4. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 32:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1963s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/ 5. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 33:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1993s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/ 6. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 33:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=2024s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-fentanyl-from-cocaine-claim/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt