The United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic. In a post on X, the US European Command said that the Justice department and department of war has taken out the operation to seize the Bella 1 for violation of sanctions.“The @TheJusticeDept & @DHSgov, in coordination with the @DeptofWar today announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violations of US sanctions. The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro,” it said.
The US had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a US blockade around Venezuela, AP reported. They added that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine. It was unclear how close the vessels were to the operation, which was taking place close to Iceland.The US Coast Guard first attempted to intercept the vessel last month, but it refused to be boarded. Since then, it registered under a Russian flag, Reuters reported.The tanker, now known as the Marinera, was the latest tanker targeted by the US Coast Guard since the start of US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela.Separately, the US Coast Guard also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters, US officials told Reuters, as the US continued enforcing a maritime “blockade” of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela.The moves came just days after US special forces swooped into Caracas before dawn on Saturday in a deadly raid to seize President Nicolas Maduro and take him to the United States. The US military turned him over to federal authorities for prosecution on charges involving alleged drug trafficking.Top Venezuelan officials called Maduro’s capture a kidnapping and accused the US of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, estimated to be the largest in the world.In turn, Trump and top US officials accused Venezuela of stealing US oil, in an apparent reference to the country’s nationalisation of its energy sector in several waves over the past half-century.