US forces stop oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as Trump follows up on promise to seize tankers

U.S. forces intercepted an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast Saturday, marking the second such operation in less than two weeks as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

The pre-dawn operation targeted the crude oil tanker Centuries, which was flying under Panama’s flag and had recently docked in Venezuela. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the interception, sharing unclassified video footage of a U.S. helicopter landing personnel on the vessel.

“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 on social media platform X. “We will find you, and we will stop you.”

According to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, the boarding was consensual, with the tanker stopping voluntarily and allowing U.S. forces to come aboard. This characterization contrasts with Venezuela’s official response, which condemned the action as “criminal” and promised to pursue legal remedies through the United Nations Security Council.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly claimed the Centuries was “operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil” and carrying sanctioned cargo. However, maritime historian Dr. Salvatore Mercogliano of Campbell University questioned this assessment, noting that shipping industry databases indicated the vessel appeared properly registered.

“Everything indicates that she is a properly registered vessel,” Mercogliano said, while acknowledging that the tanker likely carried oil subject to U.S. sanctions. He characterized the seizure as “a big escalation” designed to “scare other tankers away” from engaging with Venezuela.

This operation follows the December 10 seizure of another vessel, the Skipper, which was reportedly part of a “shadow fleet” operating outside normal maritime regulations to transport sanctioned cargo. After that interception, President Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan waters.

The enforcement actions come as Trump has escalated rhetoric toward Maduro, suggesting the Venezuelan leader’s “days in power are numbered.” Earlier this week, Trump demanded Venezuela return assets seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, citing these lost investments as partial justification for the blockade.

“We’re not going to be letting anybody going through who shouldn’t be going through,” Trump told reporters. “You remember they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They took it — they illegally took it.”

American oil companies dominated Venezuela’s petroleum industry until nationalization efforts beginning in the 1970s and accelerating under Hugo Chávez and Maduro. In 2014, an international arbitration panel ordered Venezuela’s government to pay $1.6 billion to ExxonMobil over inadequate compensation for seized assets.

The tanker seizures represent one aspect of a broader maritime enforcement campaign. Since early September, the Trump administration has conducted 28 strikes against vessels in Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters allegedly involved in drug trafficking, resulting in at least 104 fatalities.

These operations have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and human rights advocates, who question whether sufficient evidence exists to justify what critics characterize as extrajudicial killings. Traditionally, the Coast Guard would interdict suspected drug smuggling vessels, search for contraband, and arrest crew members for prosecution rather than conducting lethal strikes.

The administration has deployed the largest concentration of U.S. naval forces to the region in generations, with Trump repeatedly warning that land attacks may follow. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles recently told Vanity Fair that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”

For his part, Maduro insists these military operations are ultimately aimed at regime change rather than drug interdiction. The Venezuelan government faces U.S. federal charges of narcoterrorism, which the administration cites to justify its aggressive posture under the claim of being in “armed conflict” with drug cartels threatening American security.

As tensions escalate, shipping tracking services report that some sanctioned tankers are already diverting away from Venezuelan waters, suggesting the blockade announcement is having its intended deterrent effect on the country’s oil trade.