The United States has intercepted another vessel off the coast of Venezuela, the second such operation this weekend, according to reports.
The move comes after President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Officials, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, did not say which vessel was intercepted Sunday and did not give a specific location for the operation.
Bloomberg reported that US forces boarded a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker sanctioned by the US that was en route to Venezuela to load.
Trump on Tuesday said he was ordering “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a warning Saturday after the Coast Guard seized an oil tanker, which hadn’t appeared on US sanctions lists.
The tanker contained sanctioned PDVSA oil, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region,” Noem wrote in a statement posted to social media. “We will find you, and we will stop you.”
In the days since U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, there has been an effective embargo in place, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
