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U.S. military forces boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean in what the Pentagon described as a coordinated effort to disrupt illicit Venezuelan oil shipments tied to the regime of former dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the Department of War, U.S. forces conducted a \u201cright-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding\u201d of the tanker Veronica III overnight Saturday into Sunday, after the vessel attempted to evade a U.S.-imposed quarantine on sanctioned ships.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe vessel tried to defy President Trump\u2019s quarantine \u2014 hoping to slip away,\u201d the Pentagon said in a post on X. \u201cWe tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Video released by the Pentagon showed U.S. troops boarding the tanker without resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n We defend the Homeland forward. Distance does not protect you.<\/p>\n Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Veronica III without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.<\/p>\n The vessel tried to defy President Trump\u2019s\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Tran3cLR9g<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Department of War \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@DeptofWar) February 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Veronica III is a crude oil tanker that has previously been linked to Venezuela\u2019s oil exports and is listed under U.S. sanctions related to Iran by the Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The boarding is the latest move in the Trump administration\u2019s broader effort to dismantle what U.S. officials have described as Venezuela\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet,\u201d a network of falsely flagged or covertly operated tankers used to move sanctioned crude into global markets.<\/span><\/p>\n \u200b\u200bThe boarding came as the Department of War confirmed Monday that U.S. forces had intercepted another sanctioned tanker, the Aquila II, which like the Veronica III, had fled the Venezuelan coast following the January operation that removed Maduro from power.<\/span><\/p>\n Both tankers falsely flew Panamanian flags and are under U.S. sanctions tied to illicit oil shipments. Both had spent much of the past year \u201crunning dark,\u201d a common smuggling tactic in which ships disable their tracking transponders to evade detection.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking<\/span><\/a> Monday during a stop at Maine Bath Iron Works as part of his \u201cArsenal of Freedom Tour,\u201d War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the administration intends to pursue every tanker that attempted to escape U.S. enforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe only guidance I gave to my military commanders is none of those are getting away,\u201d Hegseth told shipyard workers. \u201cI don\u2019t care if we\u2019ve got to go around the globe to get them \u2014 we\u2019re going to get them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n U.S. officials say at least 16 tankers fled Venezuelan waters in the aftermath of the January raid, prompting a global tracking effort that has now stretched from the Caribbean into the Indian Ocean. The Trump administration has now seized seven tankers since the January 3 operation<\/a>. This is part of a broader push to dismantle Venezuela\u2019s shadow oil fleet and reassert control over the country\u2019s petroleum exports.<\/span><\/p>\n\n