Trump Admin Drops Video Showing U.S. Forces Swarming Oil Tanker Off Venezuelan Coast

Go to Article

Attorney General Pam Bondi posted video of the U.S. raid on an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday.

The video shows U.S. forces boarding and taking control of the vessel as part of an operation to enforce U.S. sanctions on the sale of Venezuelan oil.

“[T]he 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,” said Bondi.

“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” she added. “This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely—and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”

President Donald Trump confirmed news of the tanker seizure on Wednesday. Trump said that the tanker was seized “for very good reasons.” Asked about what will happen to the oil, the president said, “We’ll keep it, I guess.”

U.S. forces seized the tanker off the coast of Venezuela as the White House has increasingly pressured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to step down. The president has placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro and threatened to order military strikes on drug cartel infrastructure and other targets in Venezuela.

Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

The U.S. military has sunk more than 20 vessels off Venezuela’s coast that were believed to be carrying illicit drugs such as fentanyl and cocaine.

The decision to seize the oil tanker strikes directly at Venezuela’s main source of revenue, its state-controlled oil industry. The oil it can produce through its state-owned oil company, PDVSA, is often sold internationally to countries such as Iran and China at steep discounts because of the risk of running afoul of U.S. sanctions.

The United States has oil interests in Venezuela, as well. Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department granted Chevron a waiver from U.S. sanctions to be able to drill in Venezuela in partnership with PDVSA. A portion of the oil drilled by Chevron is paid to the government of Venezuela in exchange for access.



Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account