The U.S. Coast Guard is actively pursuing a sanctioned vessel involved in Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion, a U.S. official told Baltimore Chronicle, with a judicial seizure order in place. The vessel is reportedly flying a false flag as part of efforts to evade international restrictions, the official added.
This development follows the seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast on Saturday, December 20, 2025, marking only ten days since the previous sanctioned tanker was intercepted. Unlike the earlier vessel, the tanker seized on Saturday is not listed on any sanctions registry maintained by the U.S., EU, U.K., or U.N., according to Kpler, a data analytics firm tracking global transportation and logistics.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the Coast Guard operation on social media, stating that the tanker was apprehended with support from the Department of Defense in a pre-dawn action. The vessel had last docked in Venezuela, she noted. “The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you,” Noem said.
Last week, former President Donald Trump threatened a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers” traveling to and from Venezuela, a move expected to heavily impact the Venezuelan economy, which depends on oil exports as a key revenue source for President Nicolás Maduro’s administration.
In response, Maduro reaffirmed Venezuela’s commitment to continue oil trade and described Trump’s actions as an attempt at regime change. “This will just not happen, never, never, never – Venezuela will never be a colony of anything or anyone, never,” Maduro declared.
The U.S. has now deployed its largest military presence in the Caribbean in decades, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, as part of ongoing measures to enforce sanctions and curb illicit oil shipments.
Earlier we wrote that US Coast Guard Seizes Oil Tanker in Caribbean Linked to Venezuela, Noem Confirms.
