US seizes Venezuela-linked oil tanker in Indian Ocean

Pentagon says US will enforce Trump-ordered blockade against South American country even ‘halfway around the world’.Published On 9 Feb 2026The United States military has announced seizing a Venezuela-linked vessel in the Indian Ocean, a move that Washington said demonstrates its determination to enforce its oil blockade on the South American country even “halfway around the world”.The Pentagon said on Monday that it captured the tanker as part of a campaign by US President Donald Trump to cut off Venezuela’s oil exports, which critics have slammed as “theft” and international piracy.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Venezuela rearrests opposition figure Guanipa after release: Prosecutorlist 2 of 3Trump hosts Honduras’s new president Asfura at Mar-a-Lago in USlist 3 of 3Venezuela opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa releasedend of list“The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean. It ran, and we followed,” the Pentagon said.It added that US forces tracked the vessel from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean.“No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain,” the Pentagon said, sharing footage of heavily armed US soldiers raiding the vessel from a helicopter.“By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice. You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us.”The Panama-flagged Aquila II had left Venezuelan waters in early January and was carrying 700,000 barrels of crude oil, the Reuters news agency reported, citing records from Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.The US started seizing Venezuelan oil ships in December before abducting the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, last month.Under threat of further US strikes, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez – who previously served as Maduro’s vice president – signed a law last month to open up the country’s mostly state-controlled oil sector to foreign investments.But US forces have continued to intercept and seize the country’s oil ships.