A dramatic maritime operation off Venezuela’s shoreline has become the latest flashpoint in Washington’s escalating enforcement campaign, after President Donald Trump acknowledged that U.S. forces intercepted a massive oil tanker earlier Wednesday. CBS News reported the confirmation shortly after Trump referenced the mission during a White House roundtable.
Bloomberg broke the story of the intercept, and Trump alluded to it in striking terms, describing the action as “seized for a very good reason.” He emphasized the scale of the operation, remarking, “As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized, actually. And other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”
When pressed about the fate of the crude aboard the vessel, Trump responded without hesitation: “Well we keep it, I guess. I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”
The ship at the center of the action—The Skipper—was boarded just after dawn in a coordinated military and federal strike supported by two helicopters and a combined deployment of Coast Guard personnel, Marines, and special operations forces. The early-morning maneuver unfolded at 6:00 a.m.
U.S. officials said The Skipper has been on Treasury’s sanctions list since 2022, accused of serving networks linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. The tanker, now two decades old, has carried multiple identities over its lifespan, previously bearing the names Adisa and, in 2005, The Toyo.
Attorney General Pam Bondi released footage of the seizure, underscoring the tanker’s alleged role in prohibited oil movement. She wrote that the ship was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran” and confirmed the coordinated effort by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Coast Guard, “with support from the Department of War.” Bondi added, “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.”
Senior officials signaled that the administration is now exploring additional missions modeled on Wednesday’s high-profile operation. Trump has openly warned that the U.S. is prepared to broaden its efforts, even suggesting that the ongoing crackdown on drug-running vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific may soon extend to land-based targets inside Venezuela.
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{Matzav.com}
