U.S. military and Coast Guard forces carried out another pre-dawn boarding in the Caribbean, seizing the sanctioned motor tanker Veronica in the latest escalation of Washington’s crackdown on vessels tied to Venezuela’s illicit oil trade.

Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, operating from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), took control of the tanker without incident, U.S. Southern Command said. The operation was supported by the Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), USS San Antonio (LPD 17), and USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28).

“Through #OpSouthernSpear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement. “The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a Coast Guard tactical team conducted the early-morning boarding and seizure.

“As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” Noem said.

“Through close coordination with our colleagues in the Departments of War, State, and Justice, our heroic Coast Guard men and women once again ensured a flawlessly executed operation, in accordance with international law,” she added. “As we’ve now demonstrated through multiple boardings, there is no outrunning or escaping American justice — period”.

According to maritime intelligence firm TankerTrackers, the cargo-empty, U.S.-sanctioned Aframax tanker Veronica (IMO 9256860) was last seen departing Venezuela’s Amuay terminal on January 3. The vessel has a long record in the shadow fleet, having “directly exported Iranian oil 10 times, as well as received Iranian oil 5x via STS and Venezuelan 2x,” with its illicit activity beginning in 2020.

The crude oil tanker Veronica (ex-Pegas) was sanctioned by the U.S. on February 22, 2022, because it was owned by PSB Lizing OOO, a leasing subsidiary of Russia’s state-controlled Promsvyazbank (PSB), which OFAC designated for operating in Russia’s defense-related and financial services sectors. At the time, the vessel was registered in Russia, but current databases list it latest flag-state registration as Guyana.

The seizure follows Reuters reporting this week that U.S. authorities have filed court warrants to confiscate dozens more tankers linked to Venezuela’s oil trade. The military and Coast Guard have now seized six vessels in recent weeks in international waters, part of a campaign that has included the January 3 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Friday that the Department of War, alongside other agencies, would “hunt down and interdict ALL dark fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil at the time and place of our choosing.”

Earlier seizures include the Olina on January 9, the M Sophia and Bella 1 (formerly Marinera) on January 7, and the VLCC Skipper and tanker Centuries in December. The latest actions signal a shift in U.S. enforcement strategy, with authorities now moving to confiscate both vessels and their cargoes, rather than targeting oil shipments alone.

The crackdown has drawn sharp criticism from Moscow and Caracas. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has labeled the operations “the illegal use of force” and warned it could retaliate by seizing U.S.-flagged ships.

The enforcement surge comes after the Trump administration said Venezuela’s interim government agreed to hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned crude to the United States. With storage tanks at Venezuelan ports nearing capacity and PDVSA facing deeper production cuts, the move could reroute Venezuelan oil flows away from Asia and place them under direct U.S. control for the first time in decades.