Justice Department sues for possession of oil tanker seized near Venezuela last year

The Justice Department filed a legal complaint Friday seeking that the United States takes legal ownership of an oil tanker it seized off the coast of Venezuela last year, along with nearly 2 million barrels of petroleum.

The request is for just one of at least seven oil tankers the U.S. intercepted and seized off the coast of Venezuela recently. 

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using a shadow fleet of vessels to smuggle crude oil into the global supply chains as the U.S. attempts to exert power over the country's oil supply.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Associated Press. “This [DOJ] will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to completely dismantle and permanently shutter any operation that defies our laws and fuels chaos across the globe.”

The Trump administration used the seizure last December to pressure former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to step aside. However, the U.S. eventually removed Maduro by force by arresting him and bringing him back to the U.S. for trial.

The seizure marked an escalation of American operations in the Caribbean, which were previously limited to small-scale strikes on minor watercraft.