US boards second tanker in Indian Ocean after tracking it from Caribbean

The US military has boarded a second oil tanker in the Indian Ocean, after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea where it was suspected of helping Venezuela avoid US sanctions.

The boarding of the Panamanian-flagged Veronica III is the second such US interception in the Indian Ocean in the past week. It comes amid a US crackdown on sanctioned oil exports from Venezuela.

"Distance does not protect you," the Pentagon said in a statement, alongside video and photos which appear to show the US raid.

At least seven oil tankers have been seized by the US since last year, as the Trump administration moves to control the supply of Venezuelan oil.

The Pentagon statement on Sunday defined the operation as "a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding". The statement did not say whether the US had seized the vessel, or allowed it to continue on its journey.

"The vessel tried to defy President Trump's quarantine - hoping to slip away," the Pentagon statement said.

"We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.

"No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this. International waters are not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice."

The Veronica III is currently under sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department.

The Veronica III departed Venezuela on 3 January, according to monitoring group TankerTrackers.com - the same day that the US captured Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in a raid on his presidential compound in Caracas

The ship was carrying 1.9 million barrels of crude oil at the time of departure, the group says, adding that it is believed to have been involved in the transport of Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil since 2023.

In December, US President Donald Trump said that he was ordering a "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, a move the Venezuelan government at the time described as "theft".

The US blockade has sharply curtailed Venezuelan oil exports, with only ships associated with Chevron and bound for the US operating as usual.

Loadings had fallen roughly by half in January to about 400,000 barrels per day, Matt Smith, head of US analysis at analytics firm Kpler, told the BBC last month.