The United States has seized another vessel carrying Venezuelan oil in international waters, intensifying its pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro and targeting what Washington views as the country’s primary economic lifeline.

According to a US official familiar with the operation, American personnel boarded and seized a Panamanian-flagged tanker off the coast of Venezuela early Saturday. The vessel was transporting Venezuelan oil and was reportedly en route to Asia. The seizure was not contested by the ship’s crew.

The operation marks the second known interdiction of a vessel near Venezuela this month and follows President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of a “blockade” on sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country. Earlier this month, on December 10, US authorities seized a large oil tanker known as the Skipper, which had been sanctioned for its links to Iran.

Unlike the Skipper, the tanker seized on Saturday was not under US sanctions, the official said, highlighting a notable expansion of enforcement measures beyond vessels explicitly blacklisted by Washington.

The operation was led by the US Coast Guard with support from the US military and took place in international waters. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees the Coast Guard, shared a video of the operation on social media, showing a helicopter hovering over the tanker during what she described as a “predawn action.”

“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco-terrorism in the region,” Noem stated, adding that the vessel had last docked in Venezuela.

Caracas swiftly condemned the seizure. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced that Iran had offered its cooperation to counter what he described as “acts of piracy” and “international terrorism” by the US government. In a statement published on Telegram, Gil said he spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss bilateral relations and what he called the “theft of ships loaded with Venezuelan oil.”

Gil claimed Tehran expressed “full solidarity” with Venezuela and offered cooperation “in all areas” to confront US actions, which he said violate international law.

The latest seizure comes amid a broader escalation of US pressure on Venezuela, combining maritime interdictions with new oil-sector sanctions, increased military deployments in the Caribbean, and repeated threats of potential strikes on Venezuelan territory. Washington has also moved thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the region as part of its strategy.

For the Maduro government, the seizures strike directly at oil exports, the backbone of Venezuela’s struggling economy. For Washington, the move signals a tougher enforcement posture aimed at curbing what it views as illicit oil trade networks involving sanctioned states and transnational criminal activity.

As tensions rise, the risk of further diplomatic and geopolitical fallout in the Caribbean appears increasingly likely.