Venezuela has accused the U.S. of engaging in an “act of piracy” after a crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela was seized by the U.S. military.

During the reading of the statement issued on Thursday by the Ministry of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace, it was emphasized that the true reason for this move is the White House intention to seize Venezuelan resources.

The Venezuelan government claimed the seizure reveals “the true reasons” for the Trump Administration’s recent escalating military actions towards Venezuela.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello Rondón described it as an attempt to “conceal the failure” to “achieve regime change in Venezuela through violent actions, with the complicity of various Western leaders.”

It also claimed that the reasons behind America’s “aggression” against Venezuela had “finally been revealed.”

“They talk about the drug trafficking; that’s all a lie! What they want is to steal our oil, to steal our gold, to steal our gas, to steal our water, because they don’t want to pay for it! And why don’t they want to pay for it? Because they are thieves and they are used to it,” declared the minister Diosdado Cabello Rondón in an official statement on the ministry’s website.

United States seized a crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government being run by President Nicolas Maduro. The administration also released a video on social media which appears to show US troops boarding the vessel via helicopter.

In a statement, the Venezuelan government said it plans to take the matter to all international bodies “to denounce this crime against international law.”

It vowed to “defend with absolute determination its sovereignty, its natural resources, and its national dignity.”

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a statement on social media following the operation.

Ms Noem wrote: “America rules the waves. Today the US Coast Guard in collaboration with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, the Department of War and the Justice Department led a targeted operation to seize a crude oil tanker sanctioned by the US government for transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran in support of foreign terrorist organisations.

“If you threaten our nation, or break the law, there is no place on land or sea where we won’t find you. Thank you to our brave service members. America FIRST.”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi, said the FBI and other federal agencies, with support from the Pentagon, executed a seizure warrant for the crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

Bondi posted a 45-second video of the operation on X, showing armed personnel descending onto the vessel’s deck from a helicopter. She said the U.S. executed a seizure warrant on the vessel, and that the crude oil tanker was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.”

The Department of Homeland Security also posted a video of armed forces descending onto the deck of a ship from a helicopter.

“KNOCKOUT,” the DHS said in the post accompanying the video on Wednesday evening.

The move risks further escalating tensions with Venezuela, where Trump has intensified a pressure campaign aimed at forcing the nation’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, out of power.

The Trump administration accuses Venezuela of funnelling narcotics into the US and has intensified its efforts to pressure President Maduro in recent months.

Venezuela has, in turn, accused Washington of seeking to take its oil.