WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump announced Wednesday that US forces \u201cseized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela\u201d amid escalating tensions between the two countries over strikes on drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea.<\/p>\n
Trump noted vessel was the \u201clargest one ever seized\u201d by the American military.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd other things are happening,\u201d the president added. \u201cYou\u2019ll be seeing that later.\u201d<\/p>\n
US forces have seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Attorney General Pamela Bondi<\/p>\n
US troops seen boarding the tanker from a helicopter. X \/ @AGPamBondi<\/p>\n
Attorney General Pam Bondi followed up by releasing a 45-second video of US troops rappelling from a helicopter and boarding the tanker in a dramatic armed takeover. <\/p>\n
The US \u201cexecuted a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,\u201d Bondi said. \u201cFor multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has launched a pressure campaign on Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> by blowing up suspected narco-terrorist boats and threatening military operations on land. <\/p>\n The tanker was the largest ever seized by the US military, according to President Trump. X \/ @AGPamBondi<\/p>\n \u201cIt was seized for a very good reason,\u201d Trump said of oil tanker. <\/p>\n Crude prices climbed more than 1.3% \u2014 roughly 75 cents \u2014 by mid-afternoon as word of the seizure rippled through the markets, threatening to pump up what Americans pay at the gas station.<\/p>\n The US has deployed 11 warships and 15,000 troops into the waters near Venezuela since September, and has killed more than 80 narcoterrorists in strikes on drug boats in the same time period.<\/p>\n Trump suggested in a Monday interview that Maduro\u2019s \u201cdays are numbered\u201d<\/a>\u00a0as the US ramps up its presence to combat suspected narco-terrorists traveling north from the South American nation.<\/p>\n Armed US troops seen entering the oil tanker. X \/ @AGPamBondi<\/p>\n He has also hinted that he is considering expanding military action to Venezuelan soil, refusing to rule out land strikes to knock out Maduro\u2019s narcoterrorist regime.<\/p>\n \u201cStrikes should have happened weeks ago. It\u2019s now or never,\u201d a source close to the administration told The Post last week. \u201cMaduro won\u2019t go on his own. Just not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday,\u00a0two US fighter jets also flew over the Gulf of Venezuela<\/a>\u00a0for a \u201croutine training flight,\u201d a defense official told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n