US seizes seventh oil tanker linked to Venezuela in Caribbean, officials say

United States on Tuesday morning Seized another tanker linked to Venezuela, the US Southern Command said, its seventh such seizure.

U.S. forces “detained the motor ship Sagitta without incident,” the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, said in a social media post.

He said the tanker was “operating in defiance of the quarantine established by President Trump for sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean” and that the action “demonstrates our determination to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be that which is properly and legally coordinated.”

The social media post included unclassified aerial video of Sagitta. Details of the operation and next steps regarding the ship were not immediately provided.

According to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Sagitta is a Panamanian-flagged vessel and is owned by Sunne Co Limited, which also owns several other U.S.-sanctioned vessels. It was supposedly part of a shadow fleet of ships carrying oil from sanctioned nations such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela, the Treasury Department said.

The United States has seized seven oil tankers linked to Venezuela since December 102025. Six of the seizures have occurred in the Caribbean region, and one in the north atlantic.

After a heavy U.S. military presence built up in the Caribbean last year, U.S. forces earlier this month entered Venezuela and captured embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The couple was taken to New York, where they face charges accusing them of drug trafficking and working with cartels. They have denied the charges.

Venezuela has some of the largest oil reserves in the world, which the Trump administration is looking convince American oil companies to invest. The first U.S. sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at about $500 million, was completed last week, according to a U.S. official. told News themezone.