Overview
- The court document, released Friday, shows a magistrate judge signed the seizure warrant on November 26, which the Coast Guard executed just before it expired.
- The Justice Department says the M/T Skipper, formerly the Adisa, transported sanctioned fuel in a network supporting Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
- Video released earlier in the week by Attorney General Pam Bondi shows U.S. forces rappelling onto the tanker’s deck and taking control of the bridge.
- Venezuela denounced the operation as piracy and theft, Iran issued a similar condemnation, and President Nicolás Maduro accused Washington of kidnapping the crew.
- U.S. officials announced new sanctions on Maduro relatives and shipping firms, said the United States intends to seize the oil, and NBC News reported the ship is expected to dock in Galveston, Texas, with the crew to be released upon arrival.