US Forces Seize Sanctioned Oil Tanker Linked to Russia and Iran in Caribbean

US forces seized the oil tanker Veronica in a pre-dawn boarding operation in the Caribbean, according to the US Southern Command on January 15.

In a statement accompanying a video of the operation posted online, the command said Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, operating “in support of the Department of Homeland Security,” launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and “apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica without incident.”

It said the ship was “operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the tanker had “previously passed through Venezuelan waters” and was operating in defiance of the quarantine.

The oil tanker Veronica, a 2003-built crude oil tanker previously known as Pegas and several other names, is listed in the War & Sanctions portal run by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence as a vessel involved in transporting Iranian oil and linked to sanctioned Russian entities.

The database says the ship was detained by the Greek coast guard in April 2022 over Iranian oil-related activity near Karystos Bay, and identifies the Russian shipping company MG-Flot as the vessel’s owner and commercial manager.

Earlier, it was reported that seven Venezuela-linked shadow fleet tankers turned back within 24 hours to avoid US naval interdiction in the Caribbean.

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