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The U.S. Coast Guard is still in pursuit of a sanctioned oil tanker over a week after the U.S. first tried to intercept the ship. It’s the latest development in President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuela, after he indicated that the United States had “hit” a dock facility along a shore.
The New York Times, citing two U.S. officials, reported on Tuesday that the tanker had attempted to claim Russian protection by painting a Russian flag on the side of the ship.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard, along with a U.S. maritime security source, identified the vessel as Bella 1, a very large crude oil carrier that was added last year to the sanctions list of the U.S. Treasury Department, which said the vessel has links to Iran.
On Dec. 22, Trump confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard was chasing the tanker that the administration described as part of a “dark fleet” Venezuela is using to evade U.S. sanctions. It was the second such operation to occur that weekend.
Trump says U.S. struck dock in Venezuela
The ongoing pursuit on the high seas comes days after the U.S. targeted a facility inside Venezuela where Trump said boats are loaded with drugs, marking the first known time Washington has carried out land operations inside Venezuela since the pressure campaign began.
Trump initially seemed to confirm a strike in what appeared to be an impromptu radio interview Friday, and when questioned Monday by reporters about “an explosion in Venezuela,” he said the U.S. struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.”
“There was a major explosion in the dock area, where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said as he met in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They load the boats up with drugs, so we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It’s the implementation area. There’s where they implement. And that is no longer around.”
A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II aircraft approaches for landing at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, on Monday. The U.S. has sent warships to the region and built up military forces. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Reuters)
CNN, citing sources, reported on Monday that the CIA had carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela.
The strike targeted a remote dock that the U.S. believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and move them onto boats for onward shipping, according to CNN.
Trump declined to say if the U.S. military or the CIA carried out the strike on the dock or where it occurred.
The U.S. military also said it conducted another strike on Monday against a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people. The attacks have killed at least 107 people in 30 strikes since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
WATCH | Why a U.S. ground invasion of Venezuela would be a disaster:
Why a U.S. ground invasion of Venezuela would be a disaster | About That
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela are escalating as the U.S. continues to strike alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boats and signals the possibility of a ground invasion. Andrew Chang breaks down the geographical, logistical and political challenges involved in ratcheting up the conflict to this level.
Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
The press office of Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Military buildup
In October, Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The agency did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday.
Along with the strikes, the U.S. has sent warships, built up military forces in the region and seized two oil tankers before its current pursuit of Bella 1.
The Trump administration has said it is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and seeking to stop the flow of narcotics into the United States.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from power.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published this month that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro ‘cries uncle.'”
