The US has been warned against risking a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Venezuela after it seized another tanker.
According to Sky News, Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the operation on X, saying the oil tanker had last docked in Venezuela.
She wrote, "The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you."
In footage shared by Noem of the raid, a helicopter can be seen landing on the deck of the ship ahead of the seizure.
The vessel is believed to be the Panama-flagged Centuries, according to the maritime risk management company Vanguard.
The oil tanker, which was recently spotted near the Venezuelan coast, was seized east of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the raid was a "consented boarding," with the tanker stopping voluntarily to allowing American forces aboard.
The US has already seized a sanctioned oil tanker, called Skipper, off the coast of Venezuela last week.
However, Centuries has not been sanctioned by the US, according to Jeremy Paner, a partner at Hughes Hubbard law firm in Washington DC, and former investigator at the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
