The U.S. Coast Guard seized an oil tanker off Venezuela‘s coast early Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced.
“In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela,” Noem said in a statement on X. “The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you.”
Noem’s post included over seven minutes of unclassified footage of the seizure, which shows U.S. helicopters surrounding the vessel until one hovers above it, deploying at least one soldier onto the tanker.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for further comment.
It is the first seizure since President Donald Trump declared a blockade of all vessels carrying Venezuelan oil, which he announced in a threatening message on Truth Social on Tuesday. At the time, the president boasted that the South American nation was “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America.” He also warned that pressure would only increase and demanded the government “return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
The theft Trump repeatedly derides refers to the nationalization of foreign oil assets in the country by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, in 2007. The president previously said all assets must be returned to the United States “IMMEDIATELY.”
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But this is not the first oil tanker linked to Venezuela that has been seized by the U.S. On Dec. 10, the sanctioned Skipper was seized by U.S. military personnel deployed from helicopters.
Since then, tensions have only continued to escalate, with more sanctions against Maduro’s associates and warnings from Venezuela’s allies earlier this week.
