The U.S. military on Tuesday apprehended a seventh oil tanker with ties to Venezuela, officials said.
The U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military activity in Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a post on X that military forces seized the tanker, known as Motor Vessel Sagitta, “without incident” on Tuesday morning.
In its announcement, SOUTHCOM said the seizure “demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”
“The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” the military statement said.
The incident marked the seventh oil tanker apprehended by the U.S. as part of a bid to stop Venezuela’s oil exports and exert greater control over the country. The U.S. military seized a sixth tanker last week.
The ramped-up American effort follows the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the capture of ousted President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on Jan. 3. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are currently being held in prison in Brooklyn and have pleaded not guilty to a spate of charges brought by the U.S. government, including drug trafficking and weapons possession.
Since their arrest, President Donald Trump has said he wants the U.S. to indefinitely control Venezuela’s oil production and sales, but experts have expressed doubt that the plan will work.
