The US has seized a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions between Caracas an Washington.
The second oil tanker was seized on Saturday and the vessel has been identified as Panama flagged Centuries which was carrying around 1.8 millions barrels of crude oil for China.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted footage of US helicopters landing on the ship in the east of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea.
Noem said, “The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region.
“We will find you, and we will stop you.”
The vessel loaded cargo under the name of “Crag” which is a false name, then departed Venezuela on Wednesday.
In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela.
The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund… pic.twitter.com/nSZ4mi6axc
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) December 20, 2025
The Venezuelan government said this is “a serious act of international piracy,” they accused US military personnel of “theft and hijacking” with the “forced disappearance” of the crew.
Caracas has announced plans to lodge formal complaints with the UN Security Council and other multilateral bodies, saying, “these acts will not go unpunished.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the oil tanker is a “falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned the US against military action, he said, “Armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe,” headed that this will establish “a dangerous precedent for the world.”
Last week the US President ordered that Venezuela will be surrounded in the “largest Armada” declaring a blockade on all “sanctioned oil tankers” exerting further pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.
Donald Trump has declared the Venezuelan regime as a “designated terrorist organisation” in an attempt to damage the economy.
Last week US forces seized an oil tanker of the coast and were accused of piracy by the Venezuelan regime.
Last Tuesday evening Trump wrote on social media, “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America.
“It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.”
“The illegitimate Maduro regime is using oil from these stolen oil fields to finance themselves, drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping.”
He added, “The illegal aliens and criminals that the Maduro regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden administration, are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace.
“America will not allow criminals, terrorists, or other countries, to rob, threaten, or harm our nation and, likewise, will not allow a hostile regime to take our oil, land, or any other assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, immediately.”
