OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:11 AM – Wednesday, January 7, 2026
The United States has seized two additional oil tankers linked to Venezuela in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem provided details for the vessels in an X post on Wednesday morning following their seizure.
“In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two “ghost fleet” tanker ships— one in the North Atlantic Sea and one in international waters near the Caribbean. Both vessels —the Motor Tanker Bella I and the Motor Taker Sophia—were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it,” Noem reported.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) tactical teams collaborated with their counterparts in the Department of War, Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of State to “conduct two safe, effective boardings within hours of each other,” she wrote.
The Bella 1, Noem said, “has been trying to evade the Coast Guard for weeks, even changing its flag and painting a new name on the hull while being pursued, in a desperate and failed attempt to escape justice.”
The USCGC Munro had been tracking the vessel for weeks.
“The heroic crew of the USCGC Munro pursued this vessel across the high seas and through treacherous storms— keeping diligent watch, and protecting our country with the determination and patriotism that make Americans proud,” Noem declared.
“The world’s criminals are on notice,” she continued. “You can run, but you can’t hide. We will never relent in our mission to protect the American people and disrupt the funding of narco-terrorism wherever we find it, period.”
Noem also included footage of the interception of Sophia, which U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced was “without incident.”
“The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea,” the organization stated on X. “The U.S. Coast Guard is escorting M/T Sophia to the U.S. for final disposition.”
U.S. European Command announced the seizure of Bella 1 “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court” for “violations of U.S. sanctions.”
“The United States continues to enforce the blockade against all dark fleet vessels illegally transporting Venezuelan oil to finance illicit activity, stealing from the Venezuelan people. Only legitimate and lawful energy commerce—as determined by the U.S.—will be permitted,” stated Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth on X.
“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” Hegseth wrote in another post, referencing a Truth Social post made by the president in December.
The U.S. had been tracking the tanker since last month after it tried to evade the “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers from entering or exiting Venezuela that Trump ordered on December 16th.
Shipping databases showed that the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia. An unnamed U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press that the ship had a Russian flag painted on the side of the hull.
Bella 1 was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Hezbollah, a Lebanese terror group. The Coast Guard attempted to board it in December while it was in the Caribbean heading for Venezuela, but it had refused boarding at that time.
Both interceptions happened mere days after the U.S.’s successful overnight capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores. Trump administration officials said that the U.S. would continue to seize sanctioned vessels connected to the country after U.S.-built oil infrastructure had been overtaken under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez’s regime.
“We are enforcing American laws with regards to oil sanctions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC on Sunday. “We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize those boats with oil. And that will continue.”
These are the third and fourth oil tankers the U.S. has seized in recent months after Skipper and Centuries.
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