U.S. seizes a seventh Venezuelan-linked oil tanker in Caribbean, officers say

America on Tuesday morning seized one other oil tanker linked to Venezuela, U.S. Southern Command stated, its seventh such seizure.

U.S. forces “apprehended Motor Vessel Sagitta with out incident,” U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. army operations in Latin America, stated in a social media publish. 

It stated the tanker was “working in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels within the Caribbean” and that the motion “demonstrates our resolve to make sure that the one oil leaving Venezuela can be oil that’s coordinated correctly and lawfully.”

The social media publish included unclassified aerial video of the Sagitta. The main points of the operation and the subsequent steps involving the ship weren’t instantly supplied. 

In response to the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Property Management, the Sagitta is a Panamanian-flagged vessel and is owned by Sunne Co Restricted, which additionally owns a number of different U.S.-sanctioned vessels. It was allegedly a part of a shadow fleet of vessels that transport oil from sanctioned nations reminiscent of Iran, Russia and Venezuela, the Treasury Division stated.

The U.S. has seized seven Venezuelan-linked oil tankers since Dec. 10, 2025. Six of the seizures have occurred within the Caribbean area, and one within the North Atlantic. 

After final 12 months increase a heavy U.S. army presence within the Caribbean, U.S. forces earlier this month entered Venezuela and captured embattled Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro and his spouse. The couple was dropped at New York, the place they’re going through fees accusing them of drug trafficking and dealing with cartels. They’ve denied the costs. 

Venezuela has a number of the largest oil reserves on this planet, which the Trump administration is in search of to persuade American oil corporations to spend money on. The primary U.S. sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at roughly $500 million, was accomplished final week, a U.S. official informed CBS Information.