Two American officials told "Reuters" on Sunday that the United States intercepted another ship off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, in the second operation of its kind at the start of this week.
The officials did not mention which ship was intercepted or a specific location for the operation.
In turn, "Bloomberg" reported that there are reports of the U.S. Navy seizing a third Venezuelan oil tanker off the coasts of Venezuela as tensions with Caracas escalate.
On Saturday, the United States announced that it had detained a second oil tanker off the coasts of Venezuela, as part of what Washington considers a campaign to combat drug smuggling, while Caracas denounced what it called "theft and kidnapping".
"Tanker Trackers" reported that the ship flies the Panamanian flag and carried 1.8 million barrels of crude oil in a Venezuelan port for a Chinese company.
However, the ship is not listed on the list of natural or legal persons subject to the sanctions of the U.S. Treasury Department, which was reviewed by "France Press".
The White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly wrote on the X platform, "The tanker contains oil belonging to the Venezuelan state oil company."
She explained that the ship sails under a "forged flag and is part of the Venezuelan ghost fleet used for smuggling stolen oil and financing the terrorist Maduro regime involved in drug trafficking".
At the beginning of the week, American President Donald Trump announced a "total ban" on oil tankers under sanctions, whether departing from Venezuela or headed there. He even did not rule out on Friday waging war against this South American country led by Nicolas Maduro.
Caracas believes that the Trump administration resorts to "false" accusations of drug trafficking in an attempt to topple Maduro and take control of the country's significant oil resources.
The U.S. military seized the first oil tanker off Venezuela on December 10th, and on that day Maduro denounced "maritime piracy".
Caracas warned on Saturday that "these actions will not remain unaccountable," affirming that it would bring the matter to the International Security Council.
Since 2019, Venezuelan oil has been under a U.S. embargo and is sold at a price lower than the market rate, especially to China.
