US forces early Saturday intercepted an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks, underscoring President Donald Trump’s escalating campaign to tighten economic and maritime pressure on the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

The pre-dawn operation followed Trump’s recent announcement of a sweeping “blockade” targeting sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, and comes after a similar US seizure on December 10. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the US Coast Guard, with support from the War Department, stopped the tanker, which had last docked in Venezuela. Noem also released unclassified footage showing a US helicopter inserting personnel onto the vessel, identified as the Centuries.

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