The U.S. has seized an oil tanker that defied President Trump’s blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers in a predawn mission, federal officials announced Thursday.
A Coast Guard tactical team seized the “ghost fleet” tanker, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on social media.
The Motor Tanker Veronica had passed through Venezuelan waters and was “operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she posted.
On Dec. 16, Mr. Trump imposed a “total and complete blockade” on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.
The Joint Task Force Southern Spear launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended the ship without incident, U.S. Southern Command posted on social media.
“The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” the U.S. Southern Command said.
The Veronica is the latest tanker seized in Operation Southern Spear, a U.S. military campaign against “transnational criminal and illicit maritime networks.” This is the sixth oil tanker boarded by U.S. officials.
“As we’ve now demonstrated through multiple boardings, there is no outrunning or escaping American justice — period. Our resolve is unshakeable and our mission coordination has never been better,” Ms. Noem posted on social media. “America’s Coast Guard remains Always Ready to apply the full force of its unique authorities and specialized capabilities against this threat anywhere, anytime.”
After a U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, Mr. Trump said that his administration plans to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely.
The Trump administration’s newest plan to capitalize on Venezuela’s oil to rebuild the country’s energy sector was discussed publicly on Friday. The president said during a meeting with U.S. energy executives at the White House that the oil industry would invest at least $100 billion in the rebuilding effort.
This latest development comes ahead of Thursday’s meeting between Mr. Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado — their first in-person meeting since he ousted Mr. Maduro.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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