U.S. seizes another oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, Noem says

UPDATE (Dec. 21, 2025, 1:32 p.m. ET): A U.S. official said Sunday that the Coast Guard is actively pursuing a third oil tanker in the region.

The U.S. seized another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Saturday.

With support from the Defense Department, the U.S. Coast Guard took control of the tanker early on Saturday, Noem said in a statement on X, which showed apparent footage of the operation. The ship was last docked in Venezuela, she said.

“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region,” Noem continued.

It is the second such operation by the U.S. in recent weeks. On Dec. 10, the U.S. seized an oil tanker that Attorney General Pam Bondi said was smuggling sanctioned oil from Iran to Venezuela.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers entering and exiting Venezuela. The Venezuelan government called it “a reckless and grave threat” and accused Trump of “violating international law, free trade, and the principle of free navigation.”

Noem did not say in her post if the U.S. had a warrant to seize the tanker on Saturday or whether the tanker had been sanctioned.

The Trump administration has launched deadly strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela that it alleges are smuggling drugs, and Trump has threatened to escalate the military campaign against alleged drug smugglers from sea to land soon.

The blockade may prove more effective in pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to leave power than will drone strikes on boats, MS NOW previously reported. Many have speculated that Maduro’s ouster is Trump’s end goal, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles appeared to have said as much in recent interviews with Vanity Fair.

In November, the U.S. designated Maduro and his allies as part of a foreign terrorist organization, claiming they are “responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs.” The group that the U.S. alleges they belong to is not an official organization.

Maduro has denied ties to the drug trade and has said that the U.S. is “fabricating” a war against him.

Trump also said in an interview with NBC News on Thursday that he is not ruling out war with Venezuela.

“He knows exactly what I want,” Trump said of Maduro. “He knows better than anybody.”