The U.S. seized an oil tanker suspected of carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela in a predawn mission.
Early Friday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media.
The Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident, the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a social media post.
She described the ship as a “ghost fleet” tanker ship that had departed Venezuela, attempting to evade U.S. forces.
President Trump said on Truth Social that the tanker departed Venezuela without U.S. approval and is on its way back to Venezuela as of Friday afternoon.
On Dec. 16, Mr. Trump imposed a “total and complete blockade” on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.
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The U.S. intercepted and boarded a Venezuela-linked oil tanker Wednesday, now registered under Russia, in the North Atlantic after multiple weeks of pursuit. The Treasury Department-sanctioned oil tanker defied the U.S. maritime blockade of sanctioned vessels.
The Coast Guard, which had a warrant to seize the ship, attempted to board the tanker off the coast of Venezuela last month. The ship was accused of breaking U.S. sanctions and shipping Iranian oil before reregistering as a Russian vessel.
The U.S. seized a second ship Wednesday in the Caribbean, Ms. Noem said, which recently docked at an oil port in Venezuela and wasn’t transmitting location data.
She said Friday the Coast Guard will continue to seize sanctioned oil tankers and eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity, including narco-terrorism.
“The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality,” she said.
“Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale,” the U.S. Southern Command said. “The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.”
This comes two days after the Trump administration said it is marketing Venezuelan crude oil for sale and will control the flow of crude from the South American country “indefinitely.”
Mr. Trump said that the oil will be sold through the initiative, dubbed the Great Energy Deal.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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