WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday was pursuing another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration appeared to be intensifying its targeting of such vessels connected to the Venezuelan government.
The pursuit of the tanker, which was confirmed by a U.S. official briefed on the operation, comes after the administration announced Saturday it had seized a tanker for the second time in less than two weeks.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the ongoing operation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sunday’s pursuit involved “a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion.”
The official said the vessel was flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.
The Coast Guard’s pursuit of the tanker was first reported by Reuters.
Saturday’s predawn seizure of a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries targeted what the White House described as a “falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil.”
The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10, which it said was another sanctioned vessel in a shadow fleet that the U.S. says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. It was not flying any nation’s flag when it was seized by the Coast Guard, the U.S. said.
President Trump, after that first seizure, vowed that the U.S. would carry out a “blockade” of maritime traffic into and out of Venezuela. It all comes as Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and warned that the longtime leader’s days in power are numbered.
Venezuela’s government on Saturday denounced the U.S. military actions as “criminal” and vowed not to let them “go unpunished,” saying it would file complaints with the United Nations Security Council, among other legal actions.
The targeting of tankers comes as Trump has ordered the Defense Department to carry out a series of attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that his administration alleges are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond.
At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September. Many nations and human rights groups have decried the attacks as illegal extrajudicial killings.
Madhani writes for the Associated Press.
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