(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon announced the third seizure in the Indian Ocean of an oil tanker allegedly linked to Venezuela’s illicit oil operation that had fled the Caribbean.
“Three boats ran and now all three have been captured,” said a post from the Department of Defense on X announcing the seizure. “The vessel was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and attempted to evade. From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we tracked it and stopped it. No other nation has the global reach, endurance, or will to enforce sanctions at this distance.”
The department added it would continue to “deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain.”
After the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in early January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would continue enforcing a legal “quarantine” of illicit oil tankers transiting to and from Venezuela.
President Donald Trump said that his administration will work with private U.S. companies and the government in Caracas to expand Venezuelan oil production and exports — with the U.S. controlling the revenue of oil sales.
Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez announced earlier this month that the country’s first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas had been exported to the U.S.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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