According to Southern Command, the vessel “Sagitta” was operating in defiance of restrictions imposed by Washington on ships linked to the illegal trade of Venezuelan crude oil.
The U.S. Southern Command seized a new oil tanker on Tuesday that was sailing in the Caribbean Sea near the Venezuelan coast, in an operation that is part of the naval blockade imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump on sanctioned vessels linked to the trade of Venezuelan crude oil.
This is the seventh tanker intercepted since Washington activated this strategy, presented as a measure to control the export of oil from the South American country.
The vessel was identified as the Sagitta and was detained during a military operation that, according to U.S. authorities, unfolded without incident. Southern Command indicated that the vessel was operating in defiance of the “quarantine” established by Trump, which prohibits sanctioned oil tankers from entering or leaving Venezuelan waters without express authorization from the United States.
“This morning, U.S. military forces, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, detained the motor vessel Sagitta without incident,” Southern Command reported in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
In that message, the military command emphasized that the seizure “demonstrates our determination to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela is that which is properly coordinated and legally authorized.”
According to maritime tracking data, the Sagitta had previously sailed under the flags of Panama and Liberia, a common practice in the shipping industry that, according to Washington, is used in some cases to make it more difficult to identify sanctioned vessels. U.S. authorities did not detail the exact cargo of the tanker or its final destination at the time of the seizure.
The mission was carried out within the framework of Operation Southern Spear, a broader military campaign deployed by the United States in the Caribbean involving Southern Command, the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice. According to the Pentagon, these actions seek to combat illicit activities in the Western Hemisphere, including drug trafficking and oil trade that violates international sanctions. Since December, when Trump announced the naval blockade, the United States has increased its naval presence in the region. Among the intercepted vessels is an oil tanker with ties to Russia that was detained earlier this month in the North Atlantic, after being tracked by U.S. forces from waters near Venezuela.
The seizure of the Sagitta comes amid the political reconfiguration in Venezuela following the capture of the drug-trafficking dictator Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation on January 3. Since then, Trump has asserted that Washington is exercising a guardianship over the Venezuelan political process and has indicated that the United States will play a central role in the management and marketing of the country's oil.
“The only oil that will leave Venezuela will be that which is done in a coordinated and legal manner,” the Southern Command reiterated, while affirming that the safety of U.S. citizens is “paramount” and that the operations in the Caribbean have “the full support of the joint task force deployed in the region.”
The Venezuelan regime, for its part, has rejected Washington's version and maintains that Caracas retains control over its energy resources.
Local officials assure that the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) continues negotiations with the United States regarding the sale of crude oil, although they have not offered public details about these contacts.
The seizure of the Sagitta confirms that the US naval blockade remains in effect and that controlling Venezuelan oil trade has become one of the central pillars of Washington's strategy in the Caribbean.
(With information from EFE, AFP and Europa Press)
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