CARACAS, Venezuela — According to Venezuela’s foreign minister, a crew from a US warship boarded a Venezuelan tuna boat with nine fishermen while it was navigating through Venezuelan waters, highlighting the tense relations with the United States.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Relations between the two countries intensified after President Donald Trump directed the deployment of warships in the Caribbean, near the South American nation’s coast, in August, citing efforts to combat Latin American drug cartels.

In a Saturday statement, Foreign Minister Yván Gil informed journalists that the Venezuelan tuna boat was “illegally and hostilely boarded by a United States Navy destroyer” with 18 armed personnel. They remained on the vessel for eight hours, hindering communication and the fishermen’s regular operations, but were eventually released under the escort of the Venezuelan navy.

Gil stated during a press conference that the fishing boat had the Ministry of Fisheries’ authorization to execute its activities, and he showed a video of the episode.

“Those who order such provocations aim for an incident that could justify military escalation in the Caribbean,” Gil asserted, claiming that the goal is to “persist in their failed policy” regarding regime change in Venezuela.

Gil said the incident was “illegal” and “illegitimate” and warned that Venezuela will defend its sovereignty against any “provocation.”

The Venezuelan foreign minister’s grievance surfaces days following Trump’s announcement that a drug-laden vessel had been targeted, resulting in the deaths of 11 people on board. Trump stated the vessel had departed from Venezuela carrying members of the Tren de Aragua gang, yet his administration has not provided evidence for these allegations.

Venezuela accused the United States of committing extrajudicial killings. The South American country’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said Washington’s version is “a tremendous lie” and suggested that, according to Venezuelan government investigations, the incident could be linked to the disappearance of some individuals in a coastal region of the country who had no ties to drug trafficking.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a cartel to flood the US with drugs, and doubled the reward for his capture from $25 million to $50 million.

The US government has given no indication that it plans to carry out a ground incursion with the more than 4,000 troops being deployed in the area.

But the Venezuelan government has nonetheless called on its citizens to enlist in the militias – armed volunteers – in support of its security forces in the event of a potential incursion. On Saturday, it urged them to go to military barracks for training sessions.