Watch the dramatic moment US special forces seize a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker in daring helicopter raid
Watch the moment US special forces swoop onto a sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean, seizing the vessel in a dramatic airborne raid.
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US forces in the Caribbean have seized another oil tanker linked by the Trump administration to Venezuela’s sanctioned oil trade, marking the sixth such capture in recent weeks.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on social media that the US Coast Guard boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early on Thursday after it moved through Venezuelan waters in defiance of Washington’s naval quarantine on sanctioned vessels.
The operation saw Marines and sailors launch from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to assist a Coast Guard tactical team in taking control of the ship without incident, according to US Southern Command.
Noem shared brief footage that shows helicopters over the deck while armed personnel descend by rope onto the merchant vessel.
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The Veronica, flying the Guyanese flag and believed to be part of a so-called “shadow fleet” moving oil around sanctions, last transmitted its position off Aruba on 3 January with a partial crude load.
US officials have framed the seizures as law enforcement, with Noem saying multiple captures demonstrate there is “no outrunning or escaping American justice”.
But others in the Trump administration have made clear they also see the actions as a way to generate revenue for plans to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry, including discussions with major oil executives about up to $100bn of investment and sales of tens of millions of barrels of seized oil.