In a significant intensification of the White House’s ‘maximum pressure’ strategy against Venezuela, U.S. military forces have seized another oil tanker in the Caribbean. The capture of the Motor Vessel Sagitta on Tuesday is the seventh such vessel intercepted by American forces, as the Trump administration aims to curb South American oil exports. The U.S. Southern Command confirmed the operation on social media, stating that the vessel was taken over ‘without incident’ and was found ‘operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.’

While the U.S. Southern Command did not specify if the U.S. Coast Guard led this particular boarding, it has been involved in previous actions. Last week, a video posted on social media showed troops descending from a helicopter onto the deck of The Veronica during a pre-dawn operation in the Caribbean. The military forces, including Marines and sailors, seized the vessel smoothly, the command responsible for Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, reported. “The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” it declared. This is the sixth tanker seized recently.

President Trump has recruited Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales, despite having sanctioned her for human rights violations earlier. To ensure compliance, Trump recently warned Rodríguez with a situation potentially “worse than Maduro,” who is detained in a Brooklyn jail. On December 16, President Trump enforced a ‘complete blockade’ on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. This move, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on Sunday, represents one of the largest ‘quarantines’ in modern history, effectively ‘paralyzing’ the regime’s ability to generate revenue.

Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. Special Forces, Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that while the U.S. does not intend to govern Venezuela, the Trump administration will maintain its ‘oil quarantine’ on all vessels entering or exiting the country. A fleet on Iranian tankers was also recently apprehended –– as reported exclusively by the Daily Mail. Despite a long history of brazenly transporting sanctioned Iranian oil, the Iranian ‘shadow fleet’ of Iranian–linked vessels have been seen sailing just miles from the American coastline as President Trump continues his unrelenting bombardment of alleged drug boats.

A bombshell report obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail exposes a deep, clandestine network of 20 illicit tankers currently lurking in Caribbean waters, serving as a lifeline for the regimes of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Iran and Russia. Some 11 ships have been directly linked to Iran’s oil trade, including the ‘Skipper’ and ‘Star Twinkle 6’, alongside nine others tied to Russian and Venezuelan operations, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which has spent more than 12 years trackingthese elusive vessels. The stakes could not be higher. The Skipper’s revenues reportedly fund terrorist activity by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, prop up hostile regimes and provide cut–price oil to China. Jemima Shelley, Senior Research Analyst at UANI, has warned that this reality could lure Trump into a dangerous provocation with Iran, pointing to the strong ideological alliance forged between Maduro and the Ayatollah. ‘Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its illicit oil sales are the main source of funding for its global terrorist activities,’ Shelley told the Daily Mail.