US forces board tanker in Indian Ocean that fled Trump’s Venezuela blockade

Panamanian-flagged Veronica III left Venezuela on the same day as the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro in January.Published On 16 Feb 2026United States forces have boarded another tanker in the Indian Ocean that was sanctioned for carrying Venezuelan oil, according to the Pentagon.In a post on X on Sunday, the Pentagon said the Panamanian-flagged Veronica III had “tried to defy” US President Donald Trump’s blockade of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and attempted to “slip away”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Russian drone attack kills 4 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, as peace remains elusivelist 2 of 3Trump promises oil executives ‘total safety’ if they invest in Venezuelalist 3 of 3US accused of stealing oil after intercepting third Venezuelan tankerend of listBut, “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down”, it said.The post included a video of US forces boarding a helicopter and then boarding the tanker ship.Venezuela faced US sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure President Nicolas Maduro, before US special forces abducted the Venezuelan leader in January.Several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast in the wake of the raid, including the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean overnight.Last week, the Pentagon also intercepted the Aquila II in a similar fashion.At least nine ships have been seized so far.The seizures are part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take control of Venezuela’s oil.US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told NBC News on Thursday that oil sales from Venezuela, controlled by Washington, have generated more than $1bn since Maduro’s capture. He said the sales in the next few months will bring in another $5bn.According to TankerTrackers.com, the Veronica III left Venezuela on January 3, the same day as Maduro’s abduction, with nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil.