The U.S. seized a second vessel in worldwide waters, authorities introduced, days after President Trump introduced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming into or leaving Venezuela.
Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem shared a video of the seizure in a post on X on Saturday. The video exhibits helicopters surrounding the vessel.
“In a pre-dawn motion early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the assist of the Division of Warfare apprehended an oil tanker that was final docked in Venezuela,” she wrote within the publish. “The US will proceed to pursue the illicit motion of sanctioned oil that’s used to fund narco terrorism within the area. We are going to discover you, and we are going to cease you. Thanks to our courageous women and men of the @USCG and @DeptofWar.”
It is the second time in current weeks that the United States has interdicted a tanker, and it comes amid a big U.S. army build-up in Latin America. It is unclear if the second vessel can also be an oil tanker.
A U.S. official confirmed to CBS Information that the interdiction of a sanctioned vessel off Venezuela adopted the same playbook as the sooner U.S. seizure of an oil tanker close to Venezuela, suggesting this isn’t an remoted motion however a part of a broader, ongoing enforcement marketing campaign.
The operation was led by the U.S. Coast Guard, with the right-of-visit boarding carried out by a specialised tactical group. The operation concerned a number of federal entities, together with the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Coast Guard has declined to remark to CBS Information, deferring to the White Home.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump known as for a “complete and full blockade” on all sanctioned oil tankers that enter or depart Venezuela. It’s a part of the continuing stress marketing campaign in opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Maduro authorities known as final week’s boat seizure “theft” and “piracy.” In a press release late Tuesday, Venezuela known as the blockade a “grotesque risk” and a violation of worldwide legislation, and accused the Trump administration of searching for to “applicable the oil, land and minerals of the nation by means of gigantic campaigns of lies and manipulations.”
The operation on Saturday comes days after the U.S. army seized a sanctioned 20-year-old oil tanker that had simply left port in Venezuela final week, sources instructed CBS Information. Armed personnel approached in helicopters and boarded the vessel, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury three years ago for its alleged position in an oil smuggling community that helped fund the Iranian army and its proxies within the area.
