an oil shipping network<\/a> supporting Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), both U.S. Department of State-designated foreign terrorist organizations. The IRGC uses proceeds from the distribution of petroleum to fund its terrorist networks.<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cAs the premiere United States Attorney\u2019s office leading efforts to intercept ghost vessels as well as sanctioned products, we remain committed to legally supporting President Trump\u2019s efforts to make the world a safer place,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Pirro. \u201cThe U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in DC has demonstrated exceptional perseverance, and a unique ability to navigate the challenges inherent in this type of enforcement action unmatched anywhere in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cThe FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and our partners will continue to enforce U.S. sanctions and cut off our adversaries from financial markets and critical technology,\u201d said FBI Director Patel. \u201cThe seizure of this vessel highlights our successful efforts to impose costs on the governments of Venezuela and Iran. Sanctions enforcement requires a whole-of-government approach and the FBI is proud to be part of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The seizure warrant was authorized pursuant to 18 U.S.C. \u00a7\u00a7 981, 982, 2332b(g)(5), and 2339B(a)(1), which authorizes the seizure of \u201c[a]ll assets, foreign or domestic … of any individual, entity, or organization engaged in planning or perpetrating any Federal crime of terrorism (as defined in 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 2332b(g)(5)) against the United States, citizens or residents of the United States, or their property, and all assets, foreign or domestic, affording any person a source of influence over any such entity or organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The seizure of the M\/T Skipper was effectuated by the Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation following the boarding by the U.S. Coast Guard.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Columbia along with the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s National Security Division and Criminal Division.<\/p>\n
25sz50<\/p>\n
##<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0WASHINGTON \u2013 The United States Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Columbia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-345831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}