U.S. military forces boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel halfway around the globe from the Caribbean, in what the Pentagon described as a coordinated effort to disrupt illicit Venezuelan oil shipments tied to the regime of former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
According to the Department of War, U.S. forces carried out a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” of the crude oil tanker Veronica III overnight Saturday into Sunday. The vessel had allegedly attempted to evade a U.S.-imposed quarantine on sanctioned ships.
“The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine — hoping to slip away,” the Pentagon said in a post on X. “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.”
Video released by the Pentagon showed U.S. troops boarding the tanker without resistance.
The Veronica III has previously been linked to Venezuela’s oil exports and is listed under U.S. sanctions related to Iran by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. U.S. officials have described the action as part of a broader Trump administration campaign to dismantle Venezuela’s so-called “shadow fleet” — a network of falsely flagged or covertly operated tankers used to move sanctioned crude oil into global markets.
The boarding comes on the heels of another interception. The Department of War confirmed Monday that U.S. forces had also intercepted a second sanctioned tanker, the Aquila II, which, like the Veronica III, fled the Venezuelan coast after the January operation that removed Maduro from power.
Both tankers were falsely flying Panamanian flags and are under U.S. sanctions tied to illicit oil shipments. Officials say the vessels had spent much of the past year “running dark,” a tactic commonly used in smuggling operations in which ships disable their tracking transponders to avoid detection.
Speaking Monday during a stop at Maine’s Bath Iron Works as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom Tour,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear the administration’s stance on sanctioned vessels attempting to flee enforcement.
“The only guidance I gave to my military commanders is none of those are getting away,” Hegseth told shipyard workers. “I don’t care if we’ve got to go around the globe to get them — we’re going to get them.”
U.S. officials say at least 16 tankers fled Venezuelan waters following the January 3 operation that resulted in Maduro’s removal from power, triggering a global tracking effort that has now stretched from the Caribbean into the Indian Ocean. Since that January operation, the Trump administration has seized seven tankers as part of its effort to reassert control over Venezuela’s petroleum exports and dismantle its illicit oil network.
Anonymous naval officials confirmed to The Guardian that multiple U.S. vessels — including guided-missile destroyers and a mobile sea base — were operating in the Indian Ocean, highlighting the administration’s willingness to enforce sanctions far beyond the Western Hemisphere.
Venezuela’s oil sector has been under heavy U.S. sanctions for years, forcing the Maduro regime to rely on clandestine shipping routes and foreign intermediaries to generate revenue. In December, President Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned Venezuelan tankers as part of an escalating pressure campaign, just weeks before Maduro was apprehended in a U.S. military operation in January.
The Pentagon has not clarified whether the Veronica III has been formally seized or placed under U.S. control, stating only that the boarding was conducted successfully and without incident.
“International waters are not sanctuary,” the Department of War said. “By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice.”
While officials have provided limited details about the legal mechanisms governing the seizures, they have framed the effort as a necessary extension of sanctions enforcement against hostile regimes and the financial networks that sustain them.
The interception of the Veronica III signals that, even as Maduro awaits trial, U.S. forces intend to continue pursuing the remnants of Venezuela’s illicit oil trade — no matter how far they run.
