The United States intercepted in the Indian Ocean a third tanker accused of violating the blockade against sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, after it fled the region, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.“From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we pursued it and intercepted it,” the Pentagon said, accompanied by a video showing soldiers rappelling from a helicopter onto the deck of the tanker Bertha.
“The vessel was operating despite the blockade established by President Trump against sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and was trying to escape,” it added, referring to the overnight operation. The Defense Department “will deprive illicit actors and their intermediaries of any freedom of maneuver at sea,” it said.
This is the third vessel intercepted by U.S. forces in the Indian Ocean this month, and the tenth overall since Donald Trump ordered in December a blockade against sanctioned vessels departing from or heading to Venezuela. All of the ships seized in recent months represent only a tiny fraction of the total number of sanctioned vessels operating worldwide.
That figure could be as high as 800 ships, a senior U.S. Coast Guard official estimated during a congressional hearing in early February.
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