Overview
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a pre-dawn Coast Guard boarding seized Motor Tanker Veronica without incident, sharing video of the operation.
- Officials said the vessel had passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of the president’s quarantine of sanctioned ships.
- Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford to support the seizure alongside the Coast Guard tactical team.
- The ship is listed under Guyana’s flag and tied in registration records to prior names and Russian management, and U.S. officials describe it as part of a shadow fleet moving sanctioned oil.
- The capture marks the sixth sanctioned tanker taken in recent weeks, following the U.S. apprehension of Nicolás Maduro earlier this month and occurring hours before President Trump’s scheduled meeting with María Corina Machado.