💥 US Forces Seize Oil Tanker, AG Bondi Releases Dramatic Footage

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In a major escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, US Attorney General Pam Bondi released a 45-second video today showing US forces seizing a crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The operation, which President Donald Trump confirmed hours earlier, marks a significant shift in tactics in the ongoing effort to disrupt illicit oil shipping networks linked to sanctioned regimes and foreign terrorist organizations.

The grainy, unclassified footage, shared by Bondi on her X account, shows armed personnel fast-roping from a hovering helicopter onto the deck of the vessel, later identified by sources as the 20-year-old oil tanker The Skipper. The Attorney General’s accompanying statement clarified that the seizure warrant was executed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the US Coast Guard, with “support from the Department of Defense.”

According to Bondi, The Skipper was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran” and had been under US sanctions for “multiple years” due to its involvement in an “illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.” The seizure, which began early Wednesday morning shortly after the vessel left a Venezuelan port, involved two helicopters, special operations forces, 10 Coast Guard members, and 10 Marines, launching from the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.

President Trump, while announcing the seizure at an unrelated White House event, offered sparing details, only confirming the operation and stating the vessel was “the largest one ever seized, actually.” When questioned about the oil cargo, the President commented, “Well we keep it, I guess,” adding, “I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”

The aggressive interdiction at sea represents a new level of military enforcement in the region. While US government agencies, particularly the Justice Department and HSI, have previously seized sanctioned oil tankers, the use of a helicopter-borne fast-rope boarding team from the Coast Guard’s elite Maritime Security and Response Team is a rare and highly visible display of force. The Coast Guard was designated as the lead agency for the operation due to the legal authorities used for these seizures.

Venezuela’s government swiftly denounced the seizure, issuing a statement that strongly repudiated the act as “a blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the United States.” The statement further claimed the incident revealed the “real reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela” were not about democracy or human rights, but rather the country’s “natural wealth, our oil, our energy.”

The move comes amid a significant US military buildup in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, initially framed as counter-narcotics operations. By targeting a commercial vessel carrying oil, the US is applying direct pressure to the revenue streams of the Maduro regime, whose economy relies heavily on oil exports despite years of mismanagement. The US sanctions policy is aimed at cutting off the flow of funds to both Caracas and Tehran, which Washington accuses of destabilizing actions. The seizure of the vessel, which the US Treasury Department sanctioned in 2022 for alleged ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, highlights the administration’s resolve to enforce its maximum pressure strategy. The incident is sure to further inflame tensions with Venezuela and provoke debate both internationally and within the US Congress regarding the legality and transparency of the military’s expanding role in sanctions enforcement.

Sources and Links

• Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Truth Social Account
• The Guardian: “US forces seize oil tanker off Venezuela coast.”
• CBS News: “U.S. seizes oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, escalating tensions.”
• Al Jazeera: “Trump administration says it seized oil tanker off Venezuela coast.”
• Reuters/The Jerusalem Post: “US seized oil tanker had ties to terrorist groups, AG says.”