Trump administration moves to seize vessels tied to Venezuela oil trade
US seizes second tanker, this time in the Caribbean
The US Southern Command has confirmed that the tanker M/T Sophia has been seized in the Caribbean, after the US military announced on Wednesday that it had seized a Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic. (Credit: US Southern Command)
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The Trump administration has filed arrest warrants in an effort to seize more items related to Venezuela’s oil trade, according to media reports.
So far, five vessels have been seized by the U.S. military and Coast Guard in recent weeks in international waters.
The seizures were part of the administration’s pressure campaign to force former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, which happened on Jan. 3 when he was arrested by U.S. forces.
PRESIDENT Trump says there will be no ‘second wave of attacks’ on Venezuela because of their ‘cooperation’
An oil tanker is seen anchored in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, after loading crude oil at the Bajo Grande refinery port. The Trump administration has seized several tankers linked to the Venezuelan oil trade. (Jose Bula Urrutia/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
After his capture, President Donald Trump declared that the United States would control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely.
Fox News Digital has contacted the White House and the Department of Justice.
Through the federal courts, the U.S. government has filed several civil forfeiture actions to force the seizure and forfeiture of oil cargoes and vessels involved in the trade, the sources told Reuters.
It is unclear how many seizure warrants the United States has filed.
US FORCES ATTEMPT TO ARRIVE SANCTIONED Russian-flagged OIL TANKER IN NORTH ATLANTIC, SOURCES SAYS
American troops took possession of a Venezuelan oil tanker on Saturday December 20. (DHS Secretary Kristi Noem via X)
On Friday, the War Department said it would “track down and interdict ALL Black Fleet ships carrying Venezuelan oil at a time and place of our choosing.”
“The War Department’s blockade of the Caribbean Sea remains in full force – and very effective,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on
A day earlier, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department was monitoring several other vessels amid news of the U.S. seizure of the Bella-1 tanker, a Russian-flagged oil vessel believed to be responsible for transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
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Russia, like Venezuela, relies on the shadow fleet to transport oil subject to sanctions.
