US forces in the Caribbean have seized another sanctioned oil tanker linked to Venezuela, part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to control the South American country’s oil. The US Coast Guard boarded the vessel, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media. The tanker had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in violation of Trump’s established sanctions against vessels in the region.

US Southern Command reported that Marines and sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford assisted the Coast Guard in the operation, which was carried out without incident. Social media posts from US government accounts showed black-and-white footage of helicopters hovering over the deck as armed personnel descended by rope, with at least nine people visible on board.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized under US operations targeting Venezuela’s oil industry and the fourth since the US ousted President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid nearly two weeks ago. The tanker last transmitted its location on January 3 near Aruba, north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal, carrying a partial load of crude. Flying the flag of Guyana, the ship is part of a so-called shadow fleet that transports oil in violation of US sanctions. Previously, it was known as the Gallileo, owned by a Russian company, and its registration matches that of another tanker, the Pegas, sanctioned for moving illicit Russian oil.

Noem and military officials framed the seizure as enforcement of the law, emphasizing that American authorities are monitoring the entire shadow fleet. While she declined to give specifics on the number of tankers being tracked, other Trump administration officials have described the actions as a way to generate revenue and support plans to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry. Trump met with oil executives to discuss investing USD 100 billion in Venezuela to repair and expand oil production and distribution, with expectations to sell 30–50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.