In August 2025, rumors persisted online that the brother of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) was arrested by the United States Coast Guard and later charged with drug trafficking. According to the claims, he was found to be in possession of fentanyl valued at over $1 million.
One post on X (archived) sharing the claim posted a picture of AOC with overlaid text that read, "AOC brother just got caught by the coastgard [sic] transporting fentanyl and the media is being quiet about this." The post had over 800,000 views as of this writing.
The alleged news has spread online since at least April 2025, such as in this Facebook post (archived) claiming a TikTok video reported AOC's brother "had been nabbed by the Coast Guard with $1.2 million worth of fentanyl."
— MAGA ARMY (@MAGAARMY_) August 10, 2025
An article on the Dunning-Kruger Times further elaborated on the claim, writing, "Matthew's defense claims the drugs were planted, that he thought the containers were filled with 'eco-friendly soap flakes,' and that the whole incident was 'probably just the work of white supremacists trying to discredit a powerful Latinx family.'"
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as fact. However, there was no evidence that Ocasio-Cortez's brother was arrested and no credible outlet reported on the claim. Further, Ocasio-Cortez's brother is named Gabriel, not Matthew, and posted a response on TikTok (archived) in which he said, "My name's not Matthew. I have no idea why they're posting this. I work with the homeless. I have nothing to do with this story, which isn't real. Please find something better to do with your time."
The rumor originated with the article by Dunning-Kruger Times and the America's Last Line of Defense Facebook page (archived), which are part of a network of websites and social media pages that describe their output as being humorous and satirical in nature.
The introduction on the Facebook account's author page reads: "The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery and propaganda for cash. Nothing on this page is real."
Meanwhile, the "About Us" section of Dunning-Kruger Times states, "Everything on this website is fiction."
The fictional story initially spread as Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders embarked on a tour of popular rallies across the United States opposing the policies of the second Trump administration. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent target of conservatives and, as a result, websites and social media accounts that monetize "trolling" right-leaning readers often use the popular politician as fodder for false stories.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims about Ocasio-Cortez, including rumors she collected her dead grandmother's social security checks, received $142,000 in student loan forgiveness and claimed anyone who watched Tucker Carlson was a white supremacist.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.