The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing yet another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Monday that officials claim is part of an illegal sanctions evasion.
"The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion. It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order," a U.S. official told Scripps News.
It's the third such oil tanker being seized by the U.S. in a matter of days.
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On Saturday, the U.S. administration announced it had seized a tanker for the second time in less than two weeks. The next day,officials said they were pursuing a second tanker.
The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10, another part of the shadow fleet of tankers that the U.S. says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. It was not even flying a nation's flag when it was seized by the Coast Guard.
President Donald Trump, after that first seizure, said that the U.S. would carry out a "blockade" of Venezuela. It all comes as Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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