US Plans To Seize More ‘Shadow’ Tankers Off Venezuela, Per Reports

The U.S. is reportedly planning to seize more oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela after successfully carrying out the first such operation on Wednesday, according to sources who spoke to Reuters this week.

The interdiction on Wednesday marked a significant escalation of military action in the Caribbean, with the Trump administration continuing to pressure Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to resign from his office. Venezuela has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019.

At Thursday’s briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the DOJ obtained a warrant for Wednesday’s operation because the vessel was “a sanctioned shadow vessel known for carrying black-market oil” for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

More interdictions are expected to target ships carrying Venezuelan oil to other U.S.-sanctioned nations in the coming weeks, according to Reuters. The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have been planning the seizures for months, and have compiled a target list of specific vessels, sources familiar with the details said in comments to Reuters.

Leavitt did not offer any specifics on future operations, when asked at the briefing, but did say that the United States is “not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.”

U.S. forces have slowly been ramping up their presence in the southern Caribbean near Venezuela’s coast for months, fueling speculation of a looming full-scale operation to topple Maduro.

President Donald Trump told Politico that Maduro’s “days are numbered, in an interview published Tuesday.

Trump reportedly offered Maduro a deal in November that would grant safe passage for him and his family if he agreed to give up power and leave the country. The U.S. has placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro, which is the largest sum ever offered for a head of state.

Venezuela is heavily reliant on petroleum to prop up its economy, enjoying the world’s largest proven oil reserves within its borders. However, its oil revenues have continued to shrink despite their enormous deposits nearly quadruple the size of the United States.

Halting Venezuelan oil exports by interdicting vessels would put a massive economic strain on Maduro and Venezuelan citizens at large.

The Pentagon deferred to the White House, which did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.