U.S. military forces boarded and took control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela on Tuesday (January 20, 2026) as the Trump administration continues its efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil.

U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta “without incident” and that the tanker was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean”.

The military command did not say whether the U.S. Coast Guard took control of the tanker as has been the case in prior seizures. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions for more details.

The Sagitta is a Liberian-flagged tanker and its registration says it is owned and managed by a company in Hong Kong. The ship last transmitted its location more than two months ago when exiting the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.

The tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under an executive order related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The post from U.S. Southern Command, however, indicated the ship had taken oil from Venezuela. It said the capture of the tanker “demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully”.

The military command posted what appeared to be aerial footage of the Sagitta sailing on the ocean, but unlike in prior videos the clip did not show U.S. forces flying toward it in helicopters or landing on the deck of the ship.

Mr. Trump told reporters just hours before the announcement that the U.S. has already taken 50 million barrels of oil out of Venezuela.

“We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left,” he said at the White House. “We’re selling it on the open market. We’re bringing down oil prices incredibly.”

The United States ‍has seized another Venezuela-linked tanker, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday (January 15, 2026), ahead ​of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump ‌and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

The seizure ​marks the sixth vessel targeted in recent weeks that was either carrying Venezuelan oil or had done so in the past. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the seizure took place in the Caribbean.

The U.S. military’s Southern Command confirmed the pre-dawn operation, saying U.S. forces ​apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica “without incident”. It said the Veronica ⁠was “operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

“The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated ​properly and lawfully,” Southern ⁠Command said in a statement.

The seizures began as part of Trump’s campaign to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power, which culminated in U.S. forces swooping into the ‌country to “capture” him and his wife on January ‌3, 2026.

Since then, Mr. Trump has said the United States plans to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely ‍as it seeks to rebuild the country’s dilapidated oil industry.

The vessels intercepted so far have been either under U.S. sanctions or ‍part of a “shadow fleet” of unregulated ships that disguise their origins to move oil from major sanctioned producers – Iran, Russia or Venezuela.

Last week, the U.S. seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine after pursuing it for more than two weeks across the Atlantic. The move was condemned by Moscow.

The latest seizure came ahead ⁠of Thursday’s (January 15, 2026) meeting between Mr. Trump and Ms. Machado, in their first face-to-face meeting since the U.S. ousted her ​long-time foe, Mr. Maduro.

Mr. Trump has previously called her a “freedom fighter” ⁠but dismissed the idea of installing her to lead Venezuela after ousting Mr. Maduro, saying she did not have enough domestic support.

A classified CIA assessment presented to Mr. Trump concluded that Mr. Maduro loyalists, including Ms. Rodriguez, were best ⁠positioned to maintain stability.