US troops seized a “very large” oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast on Wednesday, authorities said, the latest in a series of escalating military moves targeting the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Coast Guard forces rappelled from a helicopter on to the vessel's deck in broad daylight before commandeering the bridge at gunpoint, video released by US authorities showed.
“We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large – the largest one ever seized, actually,” President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House.
He hinted additional actions could be imminent, saying “other things are happening, so you'll be seeing that later".
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who published a video of the operation on X, said the oil tanker had been under US sanctions for years and that it had been used to smuggle oil from Venezuela and Iran.
The tanker was part of an “illicit oil shipping network”, she said.
It “was seized for a very good reason”, Mr Trump added.
The takeover of the tanker comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Mr Maduro in what the leftist leader says is an attempt to overthrow him.
Mr Trump told Politico on Monday that Mr Maduro's “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground invasion against Venezuela.
The US military has amassed an armada of warships in the Caribbean, including the world's largest aircraft carrier. The build-up is supposedly to stop drug smuggling from South America to the US, and the Pentagon has carried out more than 20 strikes on speedboats allegedly smuggling drugs, killing more than 80 people.
US media reported that the tanker was heading for Cuba, another American rival.
Washington has accused Mr Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns”, which it declared a “narco-terrorist” organisation last month.
The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday after Mr Maduro called for stepped-up military recruitment.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Venezuelan campaigner opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
