US Troops Seize Another Oil Tanker in Caribbean

The oil tanker, named Veronica, is the sixth that U.S. forces have boarded and seized since Dec. 10.

U.S. military personnel lower from a helicopter onto Motor/Tanker Veronica during a boarding and seizure operation in the Caribbean Sea on Jan. 15, 2026. U.S. Southern Command/Screenshot

U.S. Marines and Navy Sailors boarded and seized another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Jan. 15, as part of an ongoing blockade of oil tankers sailing to and from Venezuela.

“In another pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, launched from USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica without incident,” the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a Jan. 15 statement.