The U.S. is set to continue seizing oil tankers off Venezuela, targeting vessels in the shadow fleet that transport oil to China, according to Reuters. The reports says the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security have been planning these operations for months.
The announcement follows the U.S. seizure earlier this week of a Venezuelan tanker carrying 1.1 million barrels of sanctioned crude linked to illicit networks supporting foreign terrorist organizations. Venezuela condemned the move as a blatant robbery of the country’s oil.
Asked to confirm whether the Trump administration planned further ship seizures, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said she would not comment on future actions but emphasized that the U.S. would continue enforcing the president’s sanctions policies.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on six supertankers, though it remains unclear whether these vessels are among the next targets.
Four of the tankers, including the 2002-built H. Constance and the 2003-built Lattafa, are registered under the Panamanian flag, while the other two are flagged by the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.
The department said these crude tankers are engaged in “deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime.”
Venezuela’s state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. has not yet commented on the Reuters report.
