Overview
- U.S. Southern Command announced the interdiction and released footage of the boarding on social media.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the vessel had transited Venezuelan waters and was operating in violation of the Trump-ordered blockade.
- Officials linked the action to #OpSouthernSpear, a joint effort with the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department.
- Reporting has indicated the Veronica may have recently been renamed Galileo and re-registered under a Russian flag, details not confirmed by U.S. officials.
- An earlier tanker seizure in the North Atlantic triggered objections from Moscow, which claimed that ship carried a Russian flag, a characterization Washington disputed.