An oil tanker seized by US troops off the coast of Venezuela will be transported to a US port, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.
Leavitt did not specify which port the vessel would be taken to.
She said at a press conference that the United States planned to confiscate the oil aboard the tanker. “There is a legal process for the seizure of that oil and that legal process will be followed,” she said.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the tanker had been seized, marking a further escalation in tensions between Washington and Caracas.
The Venezuelan government condemned the action, calling it blatant theft and international piracy.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed the vessel was used to transport “sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.”
Bondi alleged that the tanker was part of an illegal oil transport network that provided financial support to terrorist organisations.
