Today's Edition
WASHINGTON (dpa)
US forces have again seized a vessel in the Caribbean, with Marines and sailors taking control of the Olina oil tanker early Friday, the US military's Southern Command said.
The command said personnel from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, working with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford and seized the vessel in the Caribbean Sea without incident.
As with two other ship seizures earlier this week, the military said the operation was carried out to protect security in the Western Hemisphere.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Olina had previously been known under a different name and had been sanctioned by the US for transporting Russian oil, it added.
According to ABC News, the freighter had unspecified ties to Venezuela.
Washington accuses the vessels of operating as part of a so-called "ghost" or "shadow" fleet used to move illicit oil and evade sanctions.
On Wednesday, US forces seized a Russian-flagged cargo ship in the North Atlantic and another oil tanker in the Caribbean.
Late last year, US President Donald Trump had ordered a naval blockade of sanctioned oil tankers heading to Venezuela or leaving ports in the resource-rich country.
He justified this by claiming that the South American country had stolen oil and other assets from the US.
On Trump's command, the US military captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a strike on Caracas on January 3.
