The US is seizing another tanker in its latest effort to control Venezuela’s oil exports.
A fifth Olina tanker is being taken over in the Caribbean near Trinidad, a U.S. official said today.
It comes after President Donald Trump told Fox News ‘we are going to start now hitting land’ following several military operations against Venezuelan boats said to be ferrying drugs to the US across the Caribbean Sea.
Last week, Trump ordered a raid to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
They are both now face narco-trafficking charges in the States.
The Olina, which was allegedly falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, had previously sailed from Venezuela.
It had returned to the region when it was seized on Friday, said a shipping source familiar with the matter, Reuters reports.
British maritime risk management compant Vanguard said: ‘The vessel’s AIS (location) tracker was last active 52 days ago in the Venezuelan EEZ, northeast of Curacao.
‘The seizure follows a prolonged pursuit of tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments in the region.’
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
