The United States imposed on Wednesday sanctions on four companies and their associated oil tankers, which are allegedly involved in transporting Venezuelan oil.
The latest sanctions from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) target four companies for allegedly operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and four associated oil tankers.
The action came few days before the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from US forces, following a military operation inside Venezuela.
President Donald Trump pledged on Saturday a U.S. return to Venezuela’s oil industry after the capture of Maduro, accusing the country’s government of flooding the United States with deadly drugs.
“President Trump has been clear: We will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs,” said earlier secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
The sanctions are meant to deny the firms and tankers access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S.
Any sanctions violations may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.
OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis, the Treasury department says.
The Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuela has included strikes on boats in the region, which the administration says are boats smuggling drugs bound for the United States.
On New Year’s Eve, the US forces launched a strike, targeting two vessels allegedly engaged in narco-trafficking.
According to U.S. Southern Command, the operation was conducted by Joint Task Force Southern Spear at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking, Southern Command said.
In an X post, the U.S. Southern Command also wrote, “A total of five narco-terrorists were killed during these actions – three in the first vessel and two in the second.”
