Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the sanctioned vessel was transporting oil from the South American country and Iran
The US has seized an oil tanker allegedly transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran, Attorney General Pam Bondi has said.
The action off the coast of Venezuela took place amid a buildup of US military activity in the region and strikes against what Washington describes as cartel boats.
“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi wrote on X on Wednesday.
She said the vessel had been sanctioned “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
The video posted by Bondi shows heavily armed law enforcement officials descending onto the ship from a helicopter.
Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025
Media outlets identified the ship as The Skipper, which was sailing under the flag of Guyana, according to the tracking website MarineTraffic. According to ABC News, the tanker, which has the capacity to carry up to 2 million barrels of oil, was bound for Cuba.
The US sanctioned The Skipper in 2022 for allegedly smuggling oil to support Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected Trump’s claim that his government is involved in drug trafficking and warned Washington against starting “a crazy war.”
A group of US legislators recently called for an investigation into strikes on more than 20 boats since September, arguing that they could constitute war crimes.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons told MSNBC on Tuesday that Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela.” He argued that the president’s true aim is to gain access to Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources.
