The United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on Saturday, a move that comes just days after US President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
It is the second time in recent weeks that the US has gone after a tanker near Venezuela amid a large US military build-up in the region.
“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco-terrorism in the region,” Noem said in a statement posted on social media. “We will find you, and we will stop you.”
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The post was accompanied by a nearly eight-minute video of aerial footage that showed a helicopter hovering just above the deck of a large tanker at sea.
The coastguard and Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Venezuela’s oil ministry and state oil company PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
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The Venezuelan government called the tanker interception a “serious act of international piracy”.