The US has imposed fresh sanctions on six more ships said to be carrying Venezuelan oil, a day after seizing a tanker off the country’s coast.
Sanctions have also been placed on some of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s relatives and businesses associated with what Washington calls his illegitimate regime.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the seized vessel, called the Skipper, had been involved in “illicit oil shipping” and would be taken to an American port.
Caracas has described it as an act of “international piracy”.
It marks a sharp escalation in the US pressure campaign against Maduro, which has seen dozens killed in strikes on boats alleged to have been carrying drugs from Venezuela, and US warships moved within striking distance of the South American country.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US. Venezuela – home to some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves – has, in turn, accused Washington of seeking to steal its resources. Maduro had previously said that Venezuela would never become an “oil colony”.
But defending the US military action, Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the US was committed to both “stopping the flow of illegal drugs” into the country and enforcing sanctions.
She would not be drawn on whether the White House planned to seize more ships transporting Venezuelan oil.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” Leavitt said.
She added that the US planned to seize the oil on board the Skipper, after the necessary legal process.
Leavitt also said Trump would not be concerned “at all” to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Maduro earlier in the day to offer Moscow’s support “in the face of growing external pressure”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said that imposing sanctions on three of Maduro’s nephews, alongside a number of businesses and ships, would tackle the leader’s “dictatorial and brutal control”.
In a post on X, he said the Trump administration was “holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes”.
On Wednesday, the White House released dramatic video footage of the raid that showed camouflaged soldiers dropping down onto the vessel from a helicopter, and walking its deck, weapons drawn.
The Venezuelan government strongly denounced the seizure of the Skipper, with Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello calling the US “murderers, thieves, pirates”. This was how the country had “started wars all over the world”, he added.
The US Treasury department sanctioned the Skipper vessel in 2022, CBS reported, for alleged involvement in oil smuggling that generated revenue for Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
The US had ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea, which borders Venezuela to the north, in the days prior to the raid.
It involved thousands of troops and USS Gerald Ford – the world’s largest aircraft carrier – being positioned within striking distance of Venezuela, BBC Verify reported.
