U.S. forces storm massive tanker tied to Iran’s IRGC and Hezbollah’s global terror network.
The United States carried out one of the most dramatic maritime seizures in its history on Wednesday, President Donald Trump confirmed, capturing a massive oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that U.S. officials say was part of a covert terror-financing pipeline connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah.
Trump, speaking at a White House roundtable, described the vessel’s capture as a major national-security victory.
“As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela—very large, the largest ever seized actually,” Trump said. He hinted that the operation was one of several unfolding missions: “Other things are happening—you’ll be seeing that later.”
When pressed on what would happen to the oil onboard, the President replied bluntly:
“Well, we keep it, I guess. I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”
The tanker, identified as The Skipper, was intercepted at 6:00 a.m. in a combined assault involving two helicopters, ten Coast Guard personnel, ten Marines, and special operations units—an operation showcasing overwhelming U.S. force projection in the Caribbean.
U.S. officials confirmed that The Skipper had been sanctioned in 2022 for its links to the IRGC and Hezbollah’s illicit oil-smuggling operations, networks known to fund terrorism across the Middle East. Previously operating under the names Adisa and The Toyo, the tanker has been tracked for years moving prohibited crude between Iran and Venezuela.
Attorney General Pam Bondi released video of the takedown, stating the vessel had been “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran” and was seized by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Coast Guard “with support from the Department of War.”
Bondi emphasized the national-security stakes:
“For multiple years, this tanker has supported a foreign terrorist oil network.”
Senior U.S. officials revealed that the Trump administration is weighing further maritime interdictions targeting similar terror-linked vessels—and is even considering expanding anti-narcotics strikes from drug boats to land targets inside Venezuela.
The seizure underscores Washington’s escalating confrontation with Iran’s terror proxies and their global financing networks, marking a new era of direct, forceful U.S. action against rogue states and their covert oil cartels.
