US seizes sixth sanctioned tanker it says has ties to Venezuela in Trump’s effort to control its oil | World News

A boat burns off the coast of Venezuela in this screen grab taken from a video released, depicting what US President Donald Trump said on a post on Truth Social was an American strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat. (Photo: Truth Social/ Donald Trump)

US forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump adminration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader US effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kri Noem wrote on social media that the US Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Through #OpSouthernSpear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere in partnership with @USCG through @DHSgov and @TheJusticeDept.In another pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear,… pic.twitter.com/brxO9xXUu3— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 15, 2026

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized U.S. forces as part of the effort Trump’s adminration to control the production, refining and global dribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.Story continues below this ad

The ship is currently led as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its regration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same regration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump’s Republican adminration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.Story continues below this ad

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and dribution. His adminration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.