The US military boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the ship from the Caribbean Sea. This was reported by the Associated Press. The US did not specify whether they captured the ship.
The Pentagon did not specify whether the ship was connected to Venezuela, which is sanctioned by the US and relies on a hidden fleet of tankers to smuggle crude oil. "Aquila II was operating in violation of President Trump's quarantine of sanctioned ships in the Caribbean. "He rushed, and we followed," the Pentagon said.
The Aquila II is one of 16 tankers that left the coast of Venezuela last month after U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolas Maduro. According to data transmitted by the ship, it is not currently loaded with crude oil.
The Aquila II is a Panamanian-flagged tanker that is under U.S. sanctions related to the transport of illegal Russian oil. The vessel has spent most of the past year with its radio transponder turned off, a practice known as "running in the dark" often used by smugglers to hide their location.
Since the ouster of Maduro, the Trump administration has sought to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela's petroleum products. Trump is also trying to limit the flow of oil to Cuba, which faces severe economic sanctions from the United States and relies heavily on oil supplies from allies such as Mexico, Russia and Venezuela.