The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in international waters of the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, according to U.S. officials.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the operation in A Post on social mediaHe said the Coast Guard “arrested” the tanker with support from the Ministry of Defense in a pre-dawn operation. She added that the tanker last arrived at a port in Venezuela.
“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil used to fund narco-terrorism in the region,” Noem said in the post. “We will find you, and we will stop you.”
In a screenshot from a video posted by Secretary Kristi Noem, the US Coast Guard arrests an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela, on December 20, 2025.
@Sec_Noem
In a post on social media, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela, which has led to an escalation of US pressure on the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“President Trump has been clear: The blockade of sanctioned oil tankers departing from or destined for Venezuela will remain in full force until the Maduro criminal enterprise returns all stolen U.S. assets,” Hegseth said in the post.
This is the second oil tanker seized by the United States in the Caribbean. However, unlike the seizure earlier this month, the tanker involved in Saturday’s operation was not on any sanctions list maintained by the US, EU, UK or UN, according to Kpler, a data firm that tracks transportation and logistics networks.
In a previous operation on December 10, an elite US Coast Guard tactical operations team, supported by US Navy helicopters, seized the oil tanker The Skipper, which is under sanctions for being part of an illicit oil operation involving Venezuela.
Reuters was the first to report that the Coast Guard had detained a second ship.
Trump announced what he called the blockade imposed on oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela in a lengthy post on his social media platform on December 16.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest navy ever assembled in the history of South America,” Trump wrote. “It will get bigger, and it will be a shock to them like nothing they’ve ever seen before,” he added.
In a screenshot from a video posted by Secretary Kristi Noem, the US Coast Guard arrests an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela, on December 20, 2025.
@Sec_Noem
In response to Trump’s announcement, Maduro said Venezuela would continue to trade oil and that Trump’s “intent” was regime change. “This will never happen, never, ever, ever — Venezuela will never be a colony of anything or anyone, ever,” he said.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said the US operation on Saturday involved a sanctioned oil tanker. In fact, the ship does not appear on any sanctions list.
