The move is a new development in the administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over drug trafficking.
President Donald Trump said on Dec. 10 that the United States seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in what appears to be an escalation in the administration’s campaign against the country over drug trafficking.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump said at the White House, adding that “other things are happening” in the area.
Trump said he would discuss the situation further in the future.
When a reporter asked Trump about the tanker, he said it “was seized for a very good reason” and that information about who owns the tanker will be provided later.
The move is a new development in the administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, alongside U.S. military strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats since September.
The U.S. military has built up its largest presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on the drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Earlier this month, Trump said that land attacks would be carried out in Venezuela, but he hasn’t offered any details on the location or when they might begin.
On Nov. 29, Trump warned in a post on Truth Social that airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety,” leading to multiple canceled flights.
“We’re going to start doing those strikes on land, too,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting when he was asked about land strikes. “You know, the land is much easier … and we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we’re going to start that very soon, too.”
Maduro has said that he believes the U.S. government is aiming to overthrow his government and is seeking to take over its vast oil reserves. In a recent interview about the U.S. military presence in the region, the Venezuelan leader said: “Peace. Yes. War. No. Never, never war.”
