US military seizes Venezuela oil tanker under Trump sanctions

The US military has seized another oil tanker at sea in support of Donald Trump’s sanctions against Venezuela, military officials announced on Thursday.

Veronica, a crude oil tanker that marine records suggest is sailing under a Guyanese flag, was boarded in a pre-dawn action by US marines and sailors, the US Southern Command said in a post on social media.

The operation was conducted in cooperation with the US Coast Guard, homeland security department and justice department, the post said. It included blurry, black-and-white aerial footage appearing to show service members descending on to the tanker’s deck from a helicopter.