US Pursuing 3rd Vessel in International Waters Near Venezuela

‘It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order,’ a U.S. official said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, the third in less than two weeks, a U.S. official told The Epoch Times on Dec. 21.

“The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” the official said.

“It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”

The Dec. 21 pursuit marks the third time this month that the U.S. government has intercepted a vessel after it departed from Venezuela amid a larger crackdown on oil shipments into or out of the South American nation by President Donald Trump.

Specific information on the craft, including its kind, cargo, and manufacturer, weren’t made immediately public.

The craft’s pursuit comes in the context of increasing tensions in the Caribbean between the United States, which has been building up a naval presence in the region, and Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime in Venezuela, which Trump accuses of running an international drug trafficking ring.

At least 100 people have been killed in a series of military airstrikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

In more recent days, beginning on Dec. 10, two seacraft have already been seized by the United States for allegedly seeking to skirt U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.

According to White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, the seizure of these ships was related to sanctions evasion and won’t impact U.S. prices.

The sanctions target ships transporting Venezuelan oil, which the Trump administration says funds the Maduro regime. China remains the primary buyer of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

The announcement by the military comes one day after the Coast Guard intercepted a separate oil tanker that last docked in Venezuela.

“In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a post on X on the afternoon of Dec. 20.

“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly suggested the tanker intercepted on Dec. 20 was “operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime,” referring to the government of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro.

A third vessel, named the Skipper, was intercepted on Dec. 10.

On Dec. 16, the Trump administration started a “total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela.

The blockade is part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Maduro and his government.

Trump has accused Venezuela of stealing oil, land, and other assets from the United States to pay for “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping.”

Reuters contributed to this report.