- The oil tanker was carrying sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela to Cuba.
- Venezuelan government accused the U.S. of seeking control over their natural resources.
- The seizure comes as the U.S. has significantly increased military presence in the Caribbean against Venezuela.
After President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, its government called the move “a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”
Trump confirmed the seizure of the tanker on Wednesday, telling reporters: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela — large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” according to Time.
The president added that the seizure was for a “very good reason.”
What we know about the seizure of the oil tanker
The tanker is 1,092 feet in length and was one of the largest tankers in the world two decades ago when it was built, according to Time. The mission to seize it involved two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard members, 10 Marines, and special forces.
Trump said the tanker is the “largest one ever seized, actually.”
When asked what would be done with the oil from the ship, the president said, “We keep it, I guess. I don’t know,” per NBC News.
In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote that forces had a seizure warrant for the tanker which was carrying U.S.-sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. The FBI and other agencies, with support of the Pentagon, were involved in executing the search warrant.
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” she wrote.
Bondi added that the seizure was conducted “safely and securely.” The attorney general confirmed the Department of Homeland Security is continuing its investigation to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil.
The X post included video that showed people rappelling out of helicopters hovering a few feet above the tanker’s deck before entering the ship armed with long guns.
According to USA Today, three people familiar with the matter said the cargo on board the tanker was owned by a business owner with ties to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Sources also say the boat was bound for Cuba.
As reports of the seizure circulated throughout the day, oil prices began to rise, climbing about 75 cents or 1.3%, per NBC News.
What Venezuela has said about the seizure of the oil tanker
According to Time, the Venezuelan government has claimed the seizure reveals the Trump administrations true motivation for the recent military actions toward Venezuela.
“It is not migration. It is not drug trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights,” the Venezuelan government said in the statement. “It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”
Diosdado Cabello, the Venezuelan interior minister, called the U.S. “murderers, thieves, pirates … these guys are high seas criminals, buccaneers.”
Maduro has continued to call on his country’s citizens to resist aggression from the U.S. and to enlist in Venezuelan militias, per Time.
On Wednesday, at a rally in Caracas, Maduro said Venezuelans should be prepared to “smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary.”
Escalating U.S. military presence in the Caribbean
This seizure comes as the U.S. has built up military forces around Venezuela for months in a pressure campaign by the Trump administration.
The Trump administration has deployed the largest number of navy vessels to the Caribbean Sea since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, per Time. While ramping up aggression against Venezuela as a whole, the administration has also ramped up attacks on Maduro. The administration has placed a $50 million bounty on the Venezuelan president.
Trump and other officials have claimed Maduro is the leader of a criminal enterprise called Cartel de los Soles. According to USA Today, critics have said Cartel de los Soles is not a real drug trafficking organization but a loose network of corruption.
The U.S. military has launched 22 strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean in the last few months, killing at least 87 people, per USA Today.