Justice Department Seeks Control of Venezuelan Oil Tanker Seized in December

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a legal complaint to gain ownership of an oil tanker called the Skipper and its nearly 2 million barrels of petroleum captured off Venezuela's coast last December. This marks the first formal legal action to control one of at least 10 tankers intercepted by American forces since late last year.

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors have initiated legal proceedings to claim ownership of a sanctioned oil vessel and approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil that were captured near Venezuela’s coastline this past December, representing another move by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert control over the nation’s petroleum industry following the capture of former leader Nicolás Maduro.

This represents the initial legal filing by American authorities to begin the formal process of gaining control over one of no fewer than 10 oil vessels that have been intercepted by U.S. forces since the end of last year. Federal officials have alleged that Venezuela has been operating a covert fleet of improperly flagged ships to transport illegal oil into international markets.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an emailed statement. “This Department of Justice will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to completely dismantle and permanently shutter any operation that defies our laws and fuels chaos across the globe.”

The capture of the ship, called the Skipper, in December represented the Republican administration’s initial move in a sequence of comparable operations and signaled a significant intensification of Trump’s efforts to pressure Maduro by eliminating his access to petroleum revenues that have historically served as Venezuela’s economic foundation.

Maduro was captured during a U.S. operation last month and transported to New York to confront drug trafficking accusations. He has entered a not guilty plea, objecting to his detention and stating himself as “the president of my country.” After his removal from power, multiple ships departed Venezuela’s waters despite Trump’s blockade on sanctioned oil vessels, and American forces have pursued and intercepted some of these ships as distant as the Indian Ocean.

The Trump administration has embarked on a mission to oversee the production, processing and international distribution of Venezuelan petroleum while monitoring revenue streams. The U.S. has started removing comprehensive sanctions to permit international corporations to function in Venezuela in an effort to restore the struggling oil sector.

A federal judge in Washington must approve the U.S. government’s request to permanently acquire the Skipper and its petroleum cargo so the oil can be potentially marketed.

The Justice Department claims the vessel transported oil from Iran and Venezuela globally, using fraudulent flags to conceal its unlawful operations while generating income for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the U.S. has classified as a foreign terrorist organization.

“Because of the coordinated efforts of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, a ghost tanker that for years secretly moved illicit oil from Iran and Venezuela around the globe has been taken off the seas,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, who leads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a statement.

“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,” he said.