Washington– The Justice Department has filed a complaint to legally gain ownership of a sanctioned tanker and nearly 2 million barrels of oil seized off the coast of Venezuela in December, another move by President Donald Trump’s administration. Controlling the country’s oil sector after Leader Nicolas Maduro arrested.
This is the first complaint filed by the United States to initiate legal proceedings to formally control one of at least 10 oil tankers that US authorities have intercepted since late last year. The United States has accused Venezuela of using a shadow fleet of ships flying false flags Illicit crude smuggling into global supply chains.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly funded regimes that pose clear threats to the United States has ended,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an emailed statement. “The Department of Justice will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to completely dismantle and permanently shut down any operation that defies our laws and fuels chaos around the world.”
The ship, named Skipper, was confiscated last December by the Republican administration The first in a series of similar actions It represents a major escalation in Trump’s campaign to pressure Maduro by cutting off access to oil revenues that have long been the lifeblood of the Venezuelan economy.
Maduro describes the tanker’s seizure as an “act of international piracy” He was captured in an American raid Last month, he was transferred to New York for a confrontation Accusations of drug trafficking. He pleaded not guilty, protested his arrest and declared himself “president of my country.” After his ouster, several ships fled the coast of Venezuela despite Trump’s quarantine on sanctioned oil tankers, and US forces tracked down and intercepted some of them. As far away as the Indian Ocean.
The Trump administration has begun to do so Production controlRefining Venezuelan oil, distributing it globally, and supervising revenue flows. The United States has begun lifting broad sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela in an effort – Reviving the faltering oil industry.
A judge in federal court in Washington must sign the US government’s request to permanently gain ownership of the Skipper and its cargo so the oil can be sold.
The Justice Department alleges that the tanker transported oil from Iran and Venezuela around the world, flying false flags to hide its illegal activities while providing revenue for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the United States considers a foreign terrorist organization.
Assistant Public Prosecutor A. Tyson Duva, who leads the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement: “Thanks to the coordinated efforts of our prosecutors and our law enforcement partners, a ghost tanker that for years has secretly transported illicit oil from Iran and Venezuela around the world has been removed from the seas.”
He said, “Today’s actions are an important step in making America and the world safer by disrupting the flow of millions of dollars to foreign terrorist organizations.”