The US is seizing another tanker in its latest effort to control Venezuela’s oil exports.
A fifth tanker is being taken over in the Caribbean near Trinidad, a US official said today.
It comes after President Donald Trump told Fox News ‘we are going to start now hitting land’ following several military operations against Venezuelan boats said to be ferrying drugs to the US across the Caribbean Sea.
Last week, Trump ordered a raid to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
They are both now face narco-trafficking charges in the States.
Trump said at a press conference in Mar-A-Lago that he will ‘run’ Venezuela and plans to tap into the country’s rich oil reserves to sell to other nations.
The Olina, which was allegedly falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, had previously sailed from Venezuela.
US Southern Command said on X: ‘Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: “there is no safe haven for criminals.”
‘In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident.
‘The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.’
It had returned to the region when it was seized on Friday, said a shipping source familiar with the matter, Reuters reports.
British maritime risk management company Vanguard said: ‘The vessel’s AIS (location) tracker was last active 52 days ago in the Venezuelan EEZ, northeast of Curacao.
‘The seizure follows a prolonged pursuit of tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments in the region.’
Trump heralded the capture of Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, as ‘extremely successful’, calling it the greatest military operation since World War II.
US forces raided Maduro’s residence and dragged he and his wife to New York where they are awaiting trial.
During his first court appearance, Maduro told the judge: ‘I am innocent’.
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