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The U.S. Coast Guard is still searching for a sanctioned tanker more than a week after the United States first tried to intercept the vessel. It is the latest development in President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuela, after he said the United States had “hit” a pier along a shoreline.
The New York Times, citing two US officials, reported 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 ship as the 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 ship had ties to Iran.
On Dec. 22, Trump confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard was pursuing the tanker that the administration described as part of a “dark fleet” that Venezuela is using to evade U.S. sanctions. It was the second such operation to take place this weekend.
Trump claims US hit Venezuela dock
The high-seas pursuit comes days after the United States targeted a facility in Venezuela where Trump said boats were loaded with drugs, marking the first time Washington has conducted land operations in Venezuela since the pressure campaign began.
Trump first appeared to confirm a strike in what appeared to be an impromptu radio interview on Friday, and when asked by reporters on Monday about “an explosion in Venezuela,” he said the United States had struck a facility where it was “taking care of” boats accused of transporting drugs.
“There was a major explosion in the dock area, where they were loading the boats with drugs,” Trump said during his meeting in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They’re loading the boats with drugs, so we hit all the boats and now we’re hitting the area. That’s the implementation area. That’s where they’re implementing. And that’s not there anymore.”
CNN, citing sources, reported Monday that the CIA 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 United States said was used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and transport them on boats for shipment, according to CNN.
Trump declined to say whether the U.S. military or the CIA carried out the attack on the pier or where it occurred.
The US military also announced that it had carried out a new strike on Monday against a boat accused of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people. The attacks have killed at least 107 people in 30 strikes since the beginning of September, according to figures announced by the Trump administration.
WATCH | Why a US ground invasion of Venezuela would be a disaster:
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela are escalating as the United States continues to strike suspected Venezuelan drug-trafficking boats and signals the possibility of a land invasion. Andrew Chang details the geographic, logistical and political challenges involved in escalating the conflict to this level. Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
The Venezuelan government press service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Military reinforcement
In October, Trump confirmed that 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 United States sent warships, strengthened its military forces in the region and seized two oil tankers before currently pursuing Bella 1.
The Trump administration has said it is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and seeks to stop the flow of narcotics into the United States.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has insisted that the real aim of US military operations is to remove 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 blowing up boats until Maduro ‘screams uncle’.”
