The U.S. military has seized another fugitive oil tanker linked to Venezuela in the Caribbean, marking the sixth vessel captured as the Trump administration intensifies its campaign against illicit oil trafficking.
U.S. Southern Command announced Thursday that American forces intercepted the Motor/Tanker Veronica during a pre-dawn operation carried out by Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear.
“In another pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, launched from USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica without incident,” the command said in a statement.
“The Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, proving the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear yet again.”
The military said the operation was backed by the full force of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale.
“The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” the statement continued.
“The Department of War, in coordination with interagency partners, will defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.”
The seizure comes as President Donald Trump prepares to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
The meeting signaled continued U.S. involvement in Venezuela’s political and economic future.
The tankers intercepted so far have either been under U.S. sanctions or part of a so-called “shadow fleet,” unregulated vessels that conceal their origins to transport oil from heavily sanctioned regimes, including Venezuela, Iran, and Russia.
Earlier this month, U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro, a move that dramatically escalated Washington’s posture toward the socialist regime.
Trump has since said the United States will effectively “run” Venezuela for the foreseeable future.
“Only time will tell,” Trump told The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday.
The president added that U.S. involvement would last “much longer” than a year.
Trump also announced that Venezuela would turn over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, with the crude to be sold immediately.
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” the president said.
“We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil.
“We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
In a moment that underscored the administration’s hardline posture, Trump recently shared a doctored image resembling a Wikipedia page that identified him as “Acting President of Venezuela” beginning in January 2026.
With U.S. naval assets now actively enforcing a maritime quarantine and multiple tankers already seized, the administration has made clear that Venezuela’s days of quietly moving oil through illicit channels are coming to an end.
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