Overview
- The vessel was identified by officials and media as the Skipper, formerly the Adisa, which was sanctioned in 2022 over Iranian-linked illicit oil trading networks.
- The Justice Department said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Coast Guard executed a judicial seizure warrant with Defense Department support, and released video of the boarding.
- A senior U.S. official said the operation occurred without casualties and that the tanker was carrying Venezuelan crude en route to Cuba before an expected resale toward Asia.
- Caracas denounced the action as piracy and a blatant theft, vowed to challenge it in international forums, and President Nicolás Maduro escalated his rhetoric in public remarks.
- The move advances Washington’s broader pressure campaign that includes a major Caribbean deployment and prior strikes on suspected smuggling boats, with U.S. officials signaling there could be additional seizures.